Lost in Middle Earth
by 7oaks
Summary: Four normal teenagers found themselves trapped in Middle Earth. Follow them, as they try to finish the story of the War of the Ring while discovering themselves and each other without jeopardizing the story.
1. PROLOGUE

**LOST IN MIDDLE EARTH**

A Lord of the Rings Fanfiction

Written by: Jersee, Torin, and Jen

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

What would you do if one day you found yourself stuck in Middle Earth? Four young people found out what it's really like to be in Middle Earth when they were magically transported there by a strange old man who occasionally disguises himself as Gandalf.

Lanie Fox is very, very vain. She believes that there is no one like her in the whole world. In her opinion, she is the most beautiful, the smartest, the sexiest, and the most important person in all of Los Angeles. Her entire life revolves around popularity and what's popular. She is the only child of a rich lawyer divorcée mother and a rich remarried father who lives in France. Lots of credit cards from her doting mother is her main reason to visit the mall almost every day. She is quite cruel to those who she thinks are "lesser humans", which unfortunately include those who are considered "geeks" or "nerds" in her school.

However, Lanie lives another life other than the one she has at school. Lanie has an Internet alter-ego. This Alter-Lanie is sweet, humble, and a certified geek. The website she frequents happens to be a Tolkien fansite where the members go and play role playing games pretending to be elves, or dwarves, or hobbits, or even orcs. She had been visiting this site since she was in third grade: when she was still a chubby, blonde, geeky, unpopular girl at school. Nobody in her school knows about this version of her, and no one in the forum knows about her school persona. It was how she wanted things to be, until she could decide which version of her she wanted to be for the rest of her life.

Lanie didn't know she'd be faced with this choice when she attended a convention for Tolkien fans held in the monolithic monument, Stonehenge, in England.

Nick Collins was you average hot Californian dude. Born into old money, he never had to worry about anything and therefore couldn't care less if he got horrible grades in school. His enjoyment revolved around sports, parties, vacations, surfing, and babe-watching. Many think he'll amount to nothing even though he has been vocal about his plans about going into College.

His only living relative is an Uncle who lives in England and is a Tolkien fanatic and scholar. He decided to visit him and was forced to watch the movie versions of Lord of the Rings (which he slept through because they were just too damn long!) He barely remembered what the stories were about, but he was able to convince his uncle that he was a fan, just like him. When, his uncle decided to bring him to a convention of Tolkien fans, he decided to go along because of the venue (Stonehenge, hello!) and because his uncle showed him pictures of the female members of the forum who were also going to the convention (babe-fest!). However, when he got there he realized how out-of-place he was and decided he'd leave before his uncle got a chance to introduce him to anyone who would recognize him when he got back home.

Then something happened and the most unexpected person found himself in a place he knew nothing about.

Shane VanGough was born in New York City to a drug-dealing father who was murdered when she was twelve. After her father's death, Shane and her mother moved to LA to be closer to Shane's maternal grandparents. During her stay there, Shane discovered Tolkien and the wonderful world of Middle Earth since both her grandparents were fans. Then she discovered a forum on the Internet where many Tolkien fans have found sanctuary, and has been addicted to it ever since.

Shane is not an outgoing person, but she gets along with pretty much anyone. She doesn't care what other people think of her, and rarely let people get close enough to know why. The only people whom she felt close enough to let in a little are her online, Tolkien forum friends.

In the forum, Shane was known as a Tolkien scholar, and rightly so—she never goes anywhere without a copy of one of Tolkien's books, which is why, at 19 Shane, has practically memorized the stories. She often wished (and dreamt) of being part of the Lord of the Rings stories. Little did she know that her wishes were about to come true.

She went to a convention of all the Tolkien fans that were part of that forum, and eventually found herself living her dream—a dream where she might have to wake up from—only if she wanted to.

Adita Panikkar was born on December 9th, 1992, three minutes after her twin brother, Vasuman, and has never been separated from him for more than two days. They were the best of friends and Adi could never picture her life without Vasuman.

One day, her brother got in a car accident. As Adi stayed by his bedside, one of the nurses gave her a copy of The Hobbit. She loved it so much that she'd read it to Vasuman, who was comatose because of the brain injury from the car crash. Soon after that, she discovered The Lord of the Rings and found a world full of brave heroes who had to face adversities far beyond their capacities and overcame them through friendship, perseverance, and love for all things good. Since then, Tolkien's Trilogy became her favorite books to read, a comfort for her in dark times.

Adi is very shy, and though she has won numerous awards for her academic accomplishments, she has never been able to come out of her shell. She has a hard time making friends and interacting with strangers. She has a terrible fear of heights and of large crowds, especially when she is in front of them. Deep inside, though, she's a spirited girl who only needs a way to let out her emotions and connect with her peers.

Then she was led by an old man into Middle Earth. Will she finally find her true self there?


	2. CHAPTER ONE – OF NICK AND LANIE

**CHAPTER ONE – OF NICK AND LANIE**

* * *

Summers were always good, and in Lanie Fox's dictionary, it's even better. It means beaches and handsome hunks and wild parties in a yacht owned by her so-called best friend, Amanda Jenkins. She was getting ready for the invitation she was so sure would come any minute now. She brushes her long blonde hair, the envy of the entire school, and adds a little more blush on her soft, smooth, blemish free cheeks. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, flashing her pearly white, newly polished teeth like a toothpaste commercial model. She takes a deep breath of air fluttering her long lashes and caught a glimpse of the renaissance gown hanging on the closet door. She looked at her watch—10:30 am—it seems the invitation would be a bit late. She decided to log on to the website she had been visiting for the last five months.  
"Let's see what's happening in Middle-earth today," she said to herself as her computer connected to the Internet. She opens up a browser and at once the familiar green message board appeared. There was an announcement on the board but before she could read it properly, a private message notification box popped up in front of the screen. "What the...?" She clicked on it and it was from Scott.  
It read: "You going to the convention, sweetie?" Scott was a guy from Ireland Lanie had been flirting with on the forum. They've exchanged pictures, talked on the phone, and chatted endlessly for two months now. She had been saving up most of her allowance so she can go meet him in Ireland next Christmas. He was quite attractive and very nice on the forum, and though she had been dating Daniel Samuelson, who is the captain of the football team and an overall heartthrob, she feels that he is dating her for all the wrong reasons. It is expected though, since all he knows is her alter ego. Scott, however, knows the real Lanie, and if he's as good as he appears to be on the forum, Lanie will drop Daniel in a heartbeat.  
Smiling from ear to ear, Lanie replied, "Of course I will." She was about to click on the send button when she realized she doesn't know what convention it was Scott was referring to. She decided to change her message to, "What convention?" And then she sent it.  
She clicked the home button on the upper-left-hand corner of the screen and the announcement more or less answered the question she had just sent over to Scott.  
MEMBERS CONVENTION DAY, it said; ALL EXPENSES PAID, it said further; SIGN UP HERE IF YOU'RE GOING.  
"What?" Lanie exclaimed excitedly, and she clicked on the link on the screen. According to it, there was an anonymous donation made by someone and now they are setting up a gathering for all the members to meet in person. "Lanie, you're a lucky girl!" She signed up, and wrote down instructions on how to get her plane ticket and where she would be staying in England.  
She went back to the private messaging service and sent a message to Scott saying she will be there, and that she's very excited to meet him. The doorbell rang right after she clicked the send button. No doubt it was the invitation to Amanda's yacht party. The convention was happening on the same day as the party and everyone who was anyone in school will be there—all the cute guys and all the popular girls.  
"Nope," said Lanie, smiling as she tore the invitation in half; "I'm not going this time, Amanda. You can have Daniel if you like. I'm off to England to meet," she took a deep breath, "Scott!"  
She phoned Amanda and told her she won't go to the said party because of personal reasons and then headed for the mall to do some shopping with her mother's platinum credit card.

* * *

Nick lounged by the pool in his uncle's backyard. He sipped at a pink lemonade and dimly considered jumping in to cool off. After losing the thought and trying to find out what it was again—

"Boo!"

He spilled the lemonade as he shot out of the chair. His crazy old uncle laughed as he rounded the chair and handed him an envelope.

"There you are, Nicky! And I thought you'd be playing video games. Oh well. Gotta work on that tan, I guess."

Nick laughed along with the guy, quickly forgetting his annoyance. When his uncle provided a pause for him to ask questions, he registered the fact that he was holding an envelope, along with his empty glass.

"What's this?"  
"Figure it out, kid! You graduated from that high school of yours, right? Although I can't imagine how."

Nick just rolled his eyes at his uncle's usual ribbing, and then ripped the envelope open. A plane ticket, a couple pieces of paper, and a hundred dollar bill was all it had.

"Huh? Is this another camp thing? I wanted to take a cruise this summer!"  
"Oh, stop whining! It's just a week long. I was right in thinking that you'd enjoy getting out of the house for a while, at least. It's a convention for a little website that I go to, every now and then. Remember those books I gave you for your birthday? It's about them!"

Books were just about all his uncle ever got him. He searched the skies for a good lie to tell but was happily interrupted.

"Well, don't worry. I'll tell you all about it on the way. You wanna get packed, or what?"

* * *

Lanie unfastened her seatbelt and gasped as she looked out the window. _T__hat's England out there, _she thought excitedly. She looked into her handbag, grabbed a compact, and powdered her nose a bit. Satisfied that she looked cute, she joined the crowd who were slowly inching their way out of the plane.  
"Alright," she said, craning her neck to see if the welcoming committee was anywhere in sight. "Where are they?"

She looked to the far left, and there they were, carrying a huge placard that said `WELCOME TOLKIENITES!' Lanie waved her hand and strained her eyes to see if Scott was there. She printed out the picture he emailed her and kept looking at it all throughout the flight memorizing the face that had been filling her dreams.  
"'Ullo!" Greeted a nice looking young lady wearing a purple turtleneck and jeans. "Are you a member of ze Tolkien Forum?"  
"Yes, yes I am!" Lanie replied. Still looking around to see a sign of Scott. _He's not here_.  
"What ees your 'andle?"  
"Oh, it's Luthien."  
The young woman's face beamed in delight, and she said, "Luth? eet ees me! Yavannah!"  
"Oh my—!" Gasped Lanie, placing a hand over her mouth. This was Yavannah: a very good RPG player, Tolkien historian, and a moderator in the forum. They have been buddies for a long time and all the while Lanie thought she was this old spinster who doesn't know how to do her own make-up. It turns out she was not much older than her and quite attractive, and she's French. "Yavvie!" They hugged and Lanie felt a bit awkward because she didn't expect this.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a doubt about Scott's true identity kept nagging like the buzzing of a mosquito. If Yavvie turned out to be different from what she was on the board, there is a possibility that Scott could have invented himself. He did seem a bit too custom-tailored for her.

After the perfunctory small talk between them, and because more and more "delegates" were coming in from around the globe it seems, _Yavannah_ gave the "exit" line. She handed Lanie a large white envelop apparently containing the schedule of events for the convention. Then she wrote Lanie's username _Luthien_ on a piece of white sticker then stuck it to a small card and placed it inside a plastic ID holder with a white lace and handed it to her, and said, "'ere's your ID, we need to tag everyone to make sure we get only zhose who are members. By the way, my name ees Sandrine."

"Sandrine! It was really nice to finally meet you in person. My real name, by the way, is Lanie."  
"Lanie! Nice to meet you too!" Sandrine said. "You can go to ze bus; eet ees outside near the front gate."  
Nodding her thanks, Lanie proceeded to the bus. Her anxiousness now turning into fear; _These are people I know only by their usernames, _she thought. There are many of them that she would like to meet personally, but now that it has come true, the realization that she may not like their real personality was making her regret she decided to make the trip.  
"You're being paranoid, Lanie," she chided herself. Shaking her head crowned with that luxurious blonde hair. Pushing back all doubt, she walked gracefully towards the swinging doors. She was almost out when suddenly someone collided with her from the right. Lanie felt like a bus hit her as she fell to the floor.

* * *

About as quickly as she had fallen, she was easily lifted back to her feet by a flustered Nick.

"Oh, uh, sorry. You okay? Yeah, you look okay."

Without even really checking, he picked his luggage up again and peered around for his uncle, who had disappeared into a crowd of geeks. After giving up and deciding that he'd be found eventually, he took more time to examine what he figured was some clumsy English lady.

"Oh! Heh. You must be lost, girl! You don't wanna hang out with those nerds, do you? Naw, I'm gonna ditch 'em, soon as I can. Maybe you can give me a tour, huh?"  
His grin was interrupted as he swung his baggage around again, barely missing her this time, looking for where he had heard his uncle's voice coming from. The small, balding, and rotund man trundled up with a smirk on his face and an ID card in his hand.

"Here. I took the liberty of signing you up for a few things. Found a friend?"

Nick forgot the girl, since he had to frown at the name on the card that had been draped around his neck.

"Aragon's cool? What's that?"  
The still unnamed uncle waved a hand distractedly, since he had recognized Lanie's handle as a member that contained at least a couple of interesting points and was introducing himself as one of the older, well-established, and highly respected Tolkienologist types.

"Hm? Oh, I thought that'd be the sort of name that you'd pick out. Don't worry about it, Nicky. Now, why don't we all catch that bus? Food soon, I promise."

* * *

Lanie was still dizzy from the fall when she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a whiff of cologne. A tight grip lifted her from the floor like a sack of potato. She glared at the guy even though her eyes were still a bit blurry.  
She was about to give him a dose of angry words when he said, "Oh, uh, sorry. You okay? Yeah, you look okay." He didn't even look at her or asked if she was alright. He just assumed she was fine, picked up his bags, and moved on. Lanie was still gaping at his inconceivable rudeness when he came back and told her she looked lost.  
"Oh! Heh. You must be lost, girl! You don't wanna hang out with those nerds, do you? Naw, I'm gonna ditch 'em, soon as I can. Maybe you can give me a tour, huh?" he said in one breath.

_Tour? Nerds? _The guy was a fortified jerk. Lanie gritted her teeth in annoyance and narrowed her eyes while the guy grinned at her like an imp. However, before she could say a word or make a move, he turned again, picked up his bags, swung them around and headed off. Lanie moved back a bit to avoid getting hit by the bags and cursed the guy in an undertone.  
"What a jerk!" she cried. He was already outside though, talking with a short, round, older man. _Must be his father, _she thought. She had a mind to tell this other man what she thought of the blonde rude guy. So she approached them and surprisingly they were headed for the bus that she was supposed to take. "No. They can't be ..." The old man caught sight of her ID and recognized the handle. He waved his hand at her. Lanie walked closer to them and looked at the ID the blonde guy was wearing.  
"Aragon's cool" it read. Lanie rolled her eyes.  
The old man was very friendly and introduced himself as TomBombadil. Recognizing the username, Lanie smiled sweetly at the old man. He was one of those who was always nice on the board, barely getting involved in senseless debates or discussions. Now she knows why.  
"Hm? Oh, I thought that'd be the sort of name that you'd pick out. Don't worry about it, Nicky. Now, why don't we all catch that bus? Food soon, I promise," TomBombadil told the younger arrogant guy, who surprisingly was named Nicky, much to Lanie's delight.  
Nicky. _How appropriate_, Lanie thought, remembering a movie about one of Satan's sons who came to Earth to capture his brothers and bring them back to hell. The title of the film was Little Nicky.  
Frowning angrily at Nicky, Lanie went ahead and entered the bus, taking a seat in the middle row, near the window. TomBombadill took a seat right next to a guy who's username was Thorin. Lanie took several deep breaths to calm her shaking nerves. Her anger was quickly subsiding when suddenly someone sat beside her, not too gently, and she caught the scent of that cologne again.  
"You again?" she exploded. He looked at her and grinned and said that there were no other seats left. "You know you didn't even –" But he was already putting on earphones and Lanie could tell his mp3 player's volume was turned to maximum as she could hear the music from her seat. Sighing laboriously, Lanie took out her mp3 player as well, and decided to just ignore this awful person until they got to the convention and never see this demon-of-a-man again.

* * *

Nick was a bit embarrassed at being called Nicky in front of some girl who looked to be around his age as he had been attempting to pour on the charm, so he decided to ignore his uncle for the rest of the trip. He had learned not to try to argue with the guy, since he could never remember what his point was, afterwards. Bobbing his head to his music, he had only sneaked a few good glances at the girl next to him before his uncle forced him to close his eyes and act as if he was getting really into the music, since he kept getting poked and talked at whenever some landmark whizzed by. A lot of stomping and head banging finally got his uncle to stop trying.  
When the bus stopped at their hotel, Nick turned his music player off and glared around at the people behind him.

"Ugh. Finally! It's too cramped in here, with all you fat nerds! I hope this place has a gym. Huh! You wouldn't be caught dead in there!"

After a not entirely friendly slap and a shove towards the door, his uncle motioned at the others. "Well, what would you expect from a kid called Aragon's cool? I just brought him along in the hope that he'd get a little sense from you guys." Then he whispered to the Lanie lady, "Heh! I misspelled his name on purpose. That's how he always says the name, anyway."

* * *

Lanie didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she was awakened by Nick's relentless complaints. She straightened up and TomBombadil told her (and everyone else) that he misspelled the name Aragorn on Nick's nametag on purpose because apparently, Nick couldn't spell. Lanie politely nodded and smiled at the old man but paid no attention to Nick.  
When Nick was already out of the bus, Lanie decided it was time to get out as well. She felt sorry for TomBombadill, trying hard to pacify the angry crowd forming beside them because Nick couldn't keep his opinions to himself.  
"What a brat!" she said not too quietly. All those within hearing-range nodded in agreement. Before stepping out of the bus completely, Lanie checked if Nick was still there. Happy to be rid of the rudest guy she's ever met, Lanie sighed deeply in relief. "Finally, the real adventure begins." Her bags were already in a small gold trolley waiting for her at the front of the hotel. Beside the bellhop who was waiting patiently for her was another girl.  
As Lanie came closer, the girl was looking at her with a shy smile. Lanie smiled back, flashing her perfect set of teeth to the girl whose mouth glistened with braces. She was about to say "hi", when the girl sought for her ID; Lanie pulled at the lace and took it off then flashed it in front of the girl. The girl's smile quickly disappeared and turned into a violent frown. Surprised at the sudden change, Lanie tried to see who the girl was, but she covered her ID and left before Lanie had a chance to do or say anything.  
Flustered with all the animosity she's been getting since she got here, Lanie looked around her and cursed under her breath. This was not what she expected in this trip.  
"Scott, I certainly hope you're worth it all," she whispered.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Lanie had a nice nap and a hot bath in the hotel, which, in her opinion, made up for the rather rowdy introduction she had that morning. Lanie looked at the schedule of events before she took a nap and the first day of the convention begins in an hour. There was going to be a picnic near Stonehenge since they were not permitted to actually hold a convention inside the ancient landmark. Lanie decided to wear her best outfit for that afternoon; she wanted to make a good impression on everyone, not just Scott. She was convinced that her username said it all, prettiest elf in Middle-Earth, and now they'll see how true it was for her too. After she was convinced that everything about her at that moment exudes beauty and femininity, Lanie decided to go down and join the rest of the delegates.  
To say that she was shocked when she reached the hotel lobby and saw people in renaissance outfit and hobbit-wear, while she was wearing a short skirt and turtleneck top with Prada knee-high boots, was an understatement. She tried to see if there was anyone wearing "normal" clothing, and found no one; all the delegates, young and old, wore some kind of Middle-Earth costume. Panic was engulfing her; the last time she stood out like a fish out of water was in second grade when she showed up at a friend's birthday party as Pooh Bear while everyone wore adult clothes. If there was anything Lanie hated it was to be embarrassed in the middle of a large crowd.  
Suddenly she felt a heavy hand tap her shoulder. She turned around abruptly and saw that it was TomBombadil, wearing the character's signature clothes (hat and boots included).  
"Looks like you didn't get the email!" he said.  
"Email?"  
"Here, wear this," he added, handing her a silver-blue cloak with a hood. "It should cover many tales."

Lanie could not believe her luck. Accepting the cloak, Lanie kissed the old man's head and thanked him repeatedly. "Just be sure to give it back in one piece. I want to give that to my niece when we go back home."  
"Yes! I'm gonna take very good care of it! I promise! Oh, you are just a lifesaver!" Lanie exclaimed.  
TomBombadil nodded and then walked out to a waiting shuttle bus outside the hotel. Lanie draped the cloak around her shoulder and ripped a piece of green ribbon from a bouquet of flowers near the concierge's desk, tied it around her head, and ran outside hoping to find a decent seat in the bus.  
It took only ten minutes for them to get to the convention site and Lanie felt goose bumps all over her body she saw the blue-gray stones of Stonehenge.  
"Magnificent!" she whispered, and her mind slowly drifted to a dream of riding through vast open plains, crowns and knights, men of honor and chivalry. Then the thought of Scott -- her Knight in shining armor –made her bite her lower lip.

A huge tent was setup a few meters from the monolithic structure and there were attendants warding off guests from crossing the line that was between the tent and Stonehenge. No one was allowed to go near it. Not even to take pictures.  
When she alighted from the bus Lanie's first thought was finding Scott. She took out the printed picture and looked at every single guy who had chestnut brown hair, blue eyes, and a body to die for. Lanie described him as a younger Mel Gibson. Walking down to the middle of the tent, Lanie met a few online buddies; Galadriel, and Arwen (real names were Jessica and Sandy, respectively), and Maedros and Valar, who Lanie thought were cute but realized they were very much taken. For one thing, Valar was wearing his wedding ring –though not on his finger, but rather it was on a chain around his neck. Lanie didn't stay with them long. She had to find Scott as soon as possible, because one week is too short a time to spend with a guy you really like.  
She made it to the other end of the tent and found not a single sign of Scott.  
"Where are you?" Lanie cried in frustration. She was near tears and suspected that Scott didn't actually come. "Maybe he's sick...or maybe he's stuck at the airport..."

* * *

Nick, who had slipped away from his uncle during an especially joyous meeting with a fellow poster, perked up from his seat on the grass and headed, he figured, gallantly over. With plenty of money for a custom job to be done for him, his uncle had forced him into a costume that he insisted to prattle on about being far more fitting for Aragorn than the one that was used in some movies. Although he had argued, he was convinced to wear the thing due to the facts that no one important would see him in it, and it came with a cool sword, tied down into its scabbard, of course, to prevent injuries, which didn't stop him from attempting to fling it out every now and then to attempt a few moves.  
After recovering from another slip of the hand off of the thing, he said, "Hey, you can't be sad, now that I'm here! Sure, we're in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of nerds in a circus tent, but, uh, I'm here! That's cool. So, what do you wanna do, huh? Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you that girl from the bus and the airport? Yeah, why haven't we ditched these guys yet? Oh, hey, what's the drinking age in this country? I passed some beer or something back there." With suggestive eyebrows, he grabbed Lanie's arm and attempted to herd her back into the tent.

* * *

"You?" Lanie exploded, wrenching her hand from Nick's grip. "I am not going anywhere with you! Okay?" Probably stunned after that display of nastiness, Nick just stared blankly at her, shaking his head a bit. "I don't know who you think you are, but you and I, we're not friends! All right? So please, just stay away!"  
Not wanting to hear any comment that might cause her migraines to erupt, Lanie walked briskly away from Nick. _The farther the better_. She knew what she did was uncalled for but he was asking for it: bumping into her at the airport, badgering her in the bus, and now—pretending to be her friend.  
"He can't even spell Aragorn correctly!" she spat. "The nerve of that guy!" Then she realized this was happening because of Scott—because he wasn't there. Lanie could feel the chunks rising to her throat, choking her, forcing her eyes to water. "I'm not going to do this..." She commanded herself.  
It was embarrassing enough that Scott stood her up to cry over it, publicly, was too much. She was Lanie Fox- the most popular girl in her school, the envy of her neighborhood, and, looking at all the girls at the convention, the prettiest one in that forum.  
"You know, they've come here to meet old friends."  
Lanie swung around to the source of the baritone voice. It was an old man, wearing a Gandalf costume, complete with the pointy hat, the large black boots, and the pipe.  
"What?" She asked after a while.  
"They are your friends aren't they?"  
Shaking her head in disbelief, Lanie replied, "Y-yeah...well, we're not real friends. Just ... we go to this message board on the Internet and chat. But that's it."  
The old man puffed his pipe and with a stern look said to Lanie, "These are the people that know who you _really_ are inside. The others only see the one you are _pretending_ to be."  
"H-how...? Who are you?"  
"Don't you know me already?"  
Lanie rolled her eyes and nodded. "Gandalf. I thought you were supposed to 17. Or are those wrinkles prosthetic makeup?"  
"Wrinkles?" the old man echoed.  
Lanie sighed, "Look. Can we cut through the charade? Okay? I didn't come here for this? I was supposed to be on a yacht party, okay? I gave it up to see someone I thought was a great guy and instead I met the biggest jerk in the world. I've had nothing but bad luck since I got here, so please; don't add your stupid acting, and cheap costume and special effects make-up ruin this already ruined day."  
She turned on her heels and headed straight for the exit.  
"Hey, Luthy!" cried Karen, who was Nenya on the board. "Where are you going?"  
"Home!" Lanie cried.  
"Home?" Karen asked. "No, you can't go home. Scott's over there."  
Lanie felt her heart skip a beat. "Scott?"  
"Yeah, he just arrived. Turns out he got lost. He's been looking for you."  
Lanie strained her eyes to see through the throng and, there, at the center of all the commotion, was the cutest guy on the forum—Scott McGregor. The moment that Lanie had been waiting for was finally here and she was more than ready for it.

* * *

After watching her leave and snapping his fingers resignedly, Nick drifted off in search of food, mostly expecting to make fun of how bad English food was supposed to be. Sniffing around, he was attracted to the smell of smoke and found some old man in a wizard costume blowing smoke rings. He swept his gaze around a couple of times to make sure that nobody was close enough to hear him express enthusiasm for much. Fortunately, they were close enough behind a display of large movie posters that only a few would have seen him talking.  
"Hey, cool! How'd you do that, man?"  
A little smirk came to the man's face as he removed the pipe from his mouth. "Years of practice. Not something you'd be interested in, Mister Collins."  
At first, Nick nodded his head with relief that the guy knew how busy he'd be with...stuff...of his own to practice much at anything, but he knit his brows in confusion at being identified. "Huh? How do you know me, old man? What, are you one my uncle's geek buddies?"  
The old man sighed, stuck the pipe back in his mouth, and seemed to look through Nick with contemplation. "Hm. Now, why would you think that? I have not had the pleasure of meeting your uncle. I was looking for you, actually."  
Nick shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably but crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the guy. "Huh! Not too well, hiding back here! What do you want, huh? I'm just here because my uncle's dragging me along. I don't really care about this nerdy stuff."  
"Oh, yes? Why are you wearing that costume, then? If you don't like this 'nerdy stuff,' why are you here?"  
Nick tilted his head to the heavens to wonder about that but easily shrugged it off and scowled at the man. "What do you care, stalker freak? Huh! I can still have fun, even if the place is filled with losers like you." After taking a step away, he noticed his I. D. badge flapping against his chest and decided that it must have been how the old man had recognized him. He flipped the thing to the ground and stomped off in search of food again.

* * *

Walking through the crowd as though she was on her way down the aisle, Lanie felt like a Queen on her way to meet her handsome King. She kept her eyes steady on Scott's handsome features in an effort to keep everyone's head turned. In her mind, she could see their thoughts as, no doubt, their attention had focused on her and Scott, and this momentous meeting of the forum's crowned King and Queen. She held her head high, regally asserting her position in their midst. _If they think there is someone more appropriate to be Queen_, she thought, _they better think again. No one is more fitting for the role...except... _"What the—"  
The old man who was dressed as Gandalf had blocked her path.  
"Excuse me," she said contemptuously, "will you please move?"  
However, he just looked at her disappointedly. He shook his head slightly too, further fraying Lanie's very thin tolerance for annoying strangers. She returned the man's judging gaze with an angry glare. Suddenly, the old man spoke and something made Lanie start. It wasn't the way he said it that made the hair on her nape prickle and stand on end, it was what he said.  
He told her, "You need to change, Lanie Fox. The council has chosen you."  
Lanie's eyes narrowed. "Chosen me? Chosen me for what?"  
Gandalf shrugged. "For the better." Then he walked away, and though Lanie followed him with her eyes, he quickly disappeared in the thickness of the crowd that had surprisingly swelled up around her. She weeded a path through them, hoping to catch the old man and get a better explanation of what he had said.  
"Where—?" she whispered, turning her head to every direction, craning her neck, and standing on tiptoe to get above the shoulders of taller people who would not let her through. She had practically scoured the entire place and there was no sign of the old man anywhere. "The nerve of that guy!"  
She turned around, straightened her dress, and let out an exasperated sigh. Then suddenly she remembered Scott, with a pang she ran back to where she had last seen him almost tripping on loose wires and overly long dresses. However, like the old man, Scott seemed to have disappeared.  
Lanie wanted to scream. She went to the nearest chair, sat down and took her shoes off. She massaged her aching heels hoping to ease the soreness caused by her relentless walking. She could feel chunks of angry sobs making their way up her throat. She looked around trying to see if anyone was looking at her, but they were all occupied with something and someone else.  
"I shouldn't have come," she said, covering her face now wet with hot tears. "I should have just stayed home and attended the Yacht party."  
A soft, cool breeze began to blow and Lanie suddenly felt tired. Her mind began to wander, and soon she was yearning for a bed, soft pillows, and a warm blanket. _I'm not that tired_, she chided herself, but her body disagreed. She was almost asleep. The wind kept fanning her face, and it was lucky that she was sitting down or she would have fallen to the ground, face first. _That would be very embarrassing._


	3. CHAPTER TWO WHEN SHANE MEETS ADI

**CHAPTER TWO—WHEN SHANE MEETS ADI**

**

* * *

**

As the second bus pulled in, Adi Panikkar leaned her head against the window and waited for the others to get off before her. She nervously played with a curl of her hair, listening to the other people walking by but not daring to look at any of them. Her parents had sent her because they thought she needed to get out of the house... Well, out of the country. When the invitation had come, she had been excited at first. A chance to meet some her best friends, the only people she felt comfortable around. But that was online. _What would they think of her when they saw her for real_? She no longer heard the sound of footsteps, and checked to make sure the bus was empty. She looped her ID tag around her neck and grabbed her old brown backpack.  
She only just reached the bottom step when a girl next to her screamed, "Oh my god! Lady?!" Adi turned and looked down at her name tag. She looked back to the girl's tag which read _ShieldMaiden_. "Oh my god, it is you!" ShieldMaiden jumped on Adi and gave her a big bear hug. Even though the two had been friends for three years now, and talked through instant messengers frequently, Adi felt deeply uncomfortable. "Well don't just stand there, say something." Adi swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Hey.." she began sheepishly, "how are you? You, uh... Don't look like I thought you would." _That doesn't make sense_, she thought. _I've seen pictures of her before. Oh! I don't belong here!_  
"Oh... Well, I had no idea what to expect with you, Lady, but you look gorgeous." ShieldMaiden smiled genuinely and put her hand on Adi's arm. That made her uncomfortable, but she tried to speak. "Thank you. You're beautiful yourself. You look a lot like Eowyn." Another lie. The girl looked nothing like her favorite character. Her hair was short and blond and her skin was tan.  
At that instant a short balding man cut in, saving Adi from her awkward conversation. His tag read _TomBombadil_ and he was wearing a fitting costume. Adi looked at her own costume, which consisted of a large green cloak, boots, and a black gown underneath that covered her body entirely. The old man started talking to _ShieldMaiden_ and Adi used the situation to sneak off in the opposite direction. She tucked her name tag into her gown to avoid being spotted by anyone else. She noticed an old man dressed like Gandalf and blowing smoke rings while talking to a boy wearing a costume that looked like a more traditional Aragorn. Something about the old man made her feel comfortable, but he was still too nervous to talk to him. Instead, she sat at the nearest table and started playing with that curl of hair once more...

* * *

Shane stepped out of the bus, casually looping the nametag reading _Alisonia_ around her neck. It really would be up to this stupid little piece of paper for her online buddies to pick her out, because she'd never put her picture on the web for all to see.  
Shane didn't particularly think she wasn't pretty enough, being chased by every man in the area told her she was, but somewhere in the back of her mind she was afraid of being found my her father's killer, a man they'd never been able to put behind bars. They knew exactly who he was, Mr. Joe Devont, but he was too powerful in New York for the prosecutors to even get near him.  
She glanced down at her nametag again. Her handle, Alisonia, was actually her middle name. When she'd been born, her mother had insisted upon Shane, even though it was a boy's name, for her daughter's first name. Shane's father had compromised by giving her Alisonia for a middle name, thus more often calling her 'Ali', or Ali-cat in reflection to her lanky figure. She's always been so thin, just like him. She would have made a good drug runner, but criminal life stopped appealing after her dad died.  
"Ali?" a voice said, interested.  
Shane turned around to face a brunette about her height with an athletic build and still very pretty. "Libra," she mumbled, glancing up and down the young woman. Then she mentally kicked herself back into reality, remembering that she was not here to pick up a date, and for that fact no one here knew she was a lesbian.  
The girl, Libra, held out her hand. "I'm Tina," she said smiling. "It's wonderful to meet you at last Ali."  
"I'm uh...actually my name is Shane," she said as she took Tina's hand.  
"Isn't Shane a..." Tina said awkwardly.  
"A guy's name, yeah, I blame my mother for that one," she finished. "It suits me though. Alisonia is my middle name...my dad called me Ali."  
"Cool," Tina said. "My screen name is just my zodiac sign. My birthday is October 15th."  
"Yeah, my birthday is August 27th, I'm a Virgo."  
"Oh!" Tina said, "Virgo and Libra are usually very compatible!" Then she turned a deep shade of red. "Sorry, I'm uh...well you're probably not..."  
Shane chuckled, knowing those lines perfectly. Knowing exactly what Tina was playing at. "I'm gay."  
Tina lit up again. "No kidding! Me too," she said smiling.  
"Let's go meet some of the other's, you know?" Shane shrugged. "I wanna meet Lady and some of the others."  
"Yeah," Tina said cheerfully. "Let's go."

* * *

Adi heard the final bus roll in and glanced over. She noticed another friend get off the bus - _Alisonia_. Adi and Shane had been friends for a long time, and she probably knew more about the girl than anyone else here. She'd known for some time now that Shane was a lesbian. Now that she saw her, Adi felt excited again. She forgot about her hair and pulled the tag back out from her cloak, straightening it out, so that it looked nice. _What would my parents think?_ The thought startled her. Why should she care? _They would hate me if they knew I was friends with her. They would hate me if they knew about me..._ She tried to put it out of her mind, but the thoughts of her parents wouldn't leave. Her brother was the only one who knew everything. Ever since the car accident four years ago, he'd had little to do but talk to his sister. He no longer played sports, even though there were many options offered for people in wheelchairs. _He could understand, because there was something different about him too._  
"Hi, Lady." Shane was suddenly right in front of Adi. She hadn't noticed her approaching. She suddenly felt very self conscious, and shrugged her shoulders forward, hoping to hide her breasts and maybe even curl up into a little ball and wait for everyone to go away. "Hi, Shane," she started awkwardly, "I can't believe I'm meeting you here. I... I've thought about you a lot." Shane raised an eyebrow at that. Did she know? _No, of course not! I'm just being paranoid! _"You know, because I'm - well, I was really looking forward to meeting you... Not that I'm not still, it's just... Oh! I've already made a fool of myself! How are you?" _Gods, I am so stupid!_

_

* * *

_

Shane looked at the ground, grinning ear to ear.  
Here she was the beautiful Lady, Adi, standing right in front of her. Maybe it was the look on her face, or maybe on Adi's, but Tina just raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "See you later on Shane." she said, turning away.  
Shane turned her attention to Adi and was surprised when her gay-dar went off. It was this weird thing she could do; she could always tell when a person was gay. It was her gay radar, her gay-dar.  
There was a look in Adi's eyes; something that you can only see in person, so even after how many years they'd known each other, this was the first time she'd gotten a hint of it.  
She wasn't out of the closet though, that much was just as obvious. Adi was her friend, and Shane had a feeling that they would be talking about some non-Tolkien related things throughout this trip. She was actually kind of surprised that Adi had never said anything before, since Lady Adi was the only person from the site who knew she was gay herself.  
"So um...do you know what the plan for what we're doing here is?" Shane asked, trying to move the conversation along.

* * *

Adi tilted her left foot towards her right and absent-mindedly bit her lower lip. She reached for her pockets but realized she didn't have any in this costume. She wanted to cover herself up as much as possible, so she pulled her sleeves down over her hands. "Well," she started shyly, "all I know is that after everyone mingles there's going to be some kind of presentation back at the hotel, and maybe we'll watch the movies..." Adi hoped Shane would want to watch the movies with her. She thought about sitting beside her for such a long time, just being close to her. The thought made her skin run chills, and her stomach knotted with anxiety. "Maybe you'd like to sit with me?" Shane smiled and said, "That'd be nice." Adi smiled and loosened up a little bit, letting her hands back out of her sleeves. "Do you.. um.. want anything to drink?" she pointed over to the table covered in leafy designs with a white semi-transparent punch bowl in the center, the long swan-carved ladle drooping over the side. Shane nodded and the two walked over. As Shane was reaching out for a cup, an old man dressed in a very convincing Gandalf costume stepped into their way.  
"Hello girls. I hope you don't mind if I grab myself a drink before you. I am an old man after all." Shane nodded politely and Adi just looked at the ground. "So," continued the old man as he dipped the ladle into the punch, "are you two here together?" Adi quickly looked up and said anxiously, "No! Well... We're, um, walking here together.. But.. Um..." she trailed off, embarrassed at her outburst. _Great, now Shane will think I don't like her!_ The old man just let out an "Mmmhmm.." as he filled his cup with the punch. "Well, I have no doubt I will be seeing more of you two later. I hope you both have fun, and learn something from your time here." _Learn something? What did the old man mean? It's not like there were any lectures or debates happening._ "Thanks," said Shane, clearly the bolder of the two. "Yeah," stammered Adi, "Thank you.." she searched for a name tag and when she found none just said "Gandalf."  
As the old man walked away into the crowd he pulled out an old-looking pipe and started to blow smoke rings. He turned back and winked at the girls before disappearing into the masses of Tolkienites. Only his pointed hat and the smoke rings were visible. _Well,_ thought Adi to herself; _that was weird..._

Shane shifted, trying desperately to mask her feelings. This girl, this Adi, was beautiful, and yeah, she liked her. She'd always liked the Lady. She never thought she'd ever meet her in person, nor did she ever dare hope that Adi would be gay too, and even now she was telling herself that there was as slim to none chance that Adi would be into her. _As if, _she muttered to herself.

* * *

"What?" Adi replied.  
"Oh, sorry," Shane said quickly. "I was just talkin to myself...I do that a lot."  
It took an enormous amount of self control for Shane not to smack herself then and there. _And now she must think I'm a crazy person!_  
Despite the look of self confidence that Shane often portrayed, she had just as much, if not more insecurities as Adi did. But as per usual she was giving off the appearance that she knew what she was doing.  
Thinking about people knowing what they were doing, Shane turned to Adi again.  
"What was with that Gandalf dude?" she inquired."I don't even know of a Gandalf on the forum. Just _Gandalf_White_ and _The Grey Pilgrim_ really, all the other registered Gandalfs are non-active."

"Yeah, he even put that little symbol from the Hobbit on there. Well, at least he's authentic." Adi suddenly realized that she had stopped slouching and quickly resumed her former pose. _There's no way. I'm not going to tell her. If she said "no" I..._ "Well. Do you... um.. want to go see who else is here? We could," she coughed on her words, "go together?" _Vasuman could help me. He was always the outgoing one. At least, until his accident. _Few of his friends had lasted after that. A few tried coming over, but quickly ended up disappearing. _If only he was here..._ Suddenly Adi's thoughts returned to the present. Shane was walking into the crowd, her hand on Adi's, pulling her along with her. Adi gripped back, a part for fear of the unknown, and a part for love.

"You wanna go meet some of the others?" Shane heard Adi say.  
Shane wanted to roll her eyes, but didn't. This poor girl was so insecure; she wondered what had happened to her to make her that way, to make her unable to just say 'I want to be with you.'  
On the other hand, Shane thought to herself, she wasn't about to say what she was feeling..._Adi I want to kiss you so badly!_ But at least she knew why. Shane had been hurt too many times, had lost too many lovers to risk it again. Right now, she was only going for friends.  
On the other hand, she thought, where would she get in life without taking a little bit of a risk. She grabbed Adi's hand, feeling a prickle in her spine, and began to inch her way through the crowd towards the bus that was getting ready to start taking passengers back to the hotel before the event the next day.

* * *

Adi and Shane walked back towards the number three bus, which had a line up outside the door. They maneuvered their way through the crowded pavilions and had nearly reached the line when Adi remembered her backpack. She had left it at the table where Shane and her had first met face to face. "I forgot my bag," she said, feeling rather stupid. "I need to go back and get it, save me a seat?" Shane laughed and said that she would come and get the bag with her. As they were walking back to the table, Adi noticed a cool breeze moving in and shivered. Shane seemed to notice it too, holding her arms closer to her body and putting her right hand in her pocket. Adi blushed as she noticed another effect of the cold on Shane and hid her cheeky smile in the shade of her hood.  
They reached the table and Adi breathed a sigh of relief to find the bag there. Suddenly the world seemed to grow dark... no - someone was standing beside her and blocking the sun. Adi and Shane had to tilt their heads back to look at the man towering over them. It was the weird old Gandalf man again. He stared down at both of them with a raised, bushy eyebrow. "Hi," said Shane, "can we help you?" The old man just shook his head and blew another smoke ring up past the brim of his blue hat. After another moment, he pulled the pipe from his lips and spoke. "You two both have a world of discovery ahead of you. Only together can you fully understand your potentials, but to do that you will both have a lot to overcome. It is for these reasons that the council has chosen you." Shane and Adi looked at each other questioningly. "What... council?" they asked together, turning back to the old man. He was nowhere to be seen. He'd just... disappeared. All of a sudden, the cold breeze started again and Adi felt very tired. "I've... got to sit... sit down," she said. Shane yawned, and the two collapsed into the plastic chairs behind them. Adi wanted nothing so much as sleep. It seemed almost as if she were lying in a bed of clouds... _Drifting... Drifting..._


	4. CHAPTER THREE—DOWN THE HOBBIT HOLE

**CHAPTER THREE—DOWN THE HOBBIT HOLE**

**

* * *

  
**

When Shane woke up, he found himself sitting under a large tree noisily surrounded by uncountable..._hobbits?_

"What the heck?" she said aloud. "Am I still dreaming?"

Shane gasped as she heard her voice changed from its usual tones to something more male like. Then she caught a reflection of her face in the nearby pond. She knew it was her, though the face she saw was very different from the usual one that looks back at her when she looks at a mirror.

"Okay, this is weird," she said, seeing that she herself was a young male hobbit. "I have so got to be dreaming." Still, something inside of her was telling her that this wasn't a dream that somehow it was a reality of sorts.

"Merry, come help me with this banner!" a voice called.

Shane looked around, hoping to spot this Merry who was being summoned.

"Yes you Merry," the other hobbit said, staring blankly at Shane. "Come on! Help me!"

Shane pointed at herself, staring questioningly back at the other hobbit. "Me?"

"Oy! Did you fall out of the Party Tree?" the hobbit asked, now looking worried. "Master Baggins told you not to climb it, but of course why would you listen to him now? Brandybucks never heed good advice, do they Merry?"

Shane shrugged, not really knowing what to say. She stood and brushed off her unfamiliar clothes and body. "Yeah, I must have fallen from the tree," she agreed, decided that until she knew what was going on here, she'd better just go with the flow.

"Okay Merry, come on then and help me set this banner up. We've got less than two hours before the Party starts! Mr. Bilbo is 111 years old—I can't believe it myself!"

Shane moved toward the other hobbit and did as she was told; wishing desperately that there was someone here who would tell her what was going on.

* * *

Nick awoke with a start when he felt a bug crawling on him. Perplexingly, the usual amount of force that it took for him to push himself up from a lying position wasn't enough this time, and he fell back and hit his head on a tree.

"Ow! Hey, where'd that come from? Huh? Where am I?" Nick cried. With very little concern about his whereabouts as he was about his physical condition he examined an arm. It looked like he hadn't worked out in a while. Raising an eyebrow and losing his calm, he noticed his feet. "What the—? What's going on?"

Casting about for someone with answers and finding no one, he struck the tree with his foot in frustration even though he was sure that it would hurt. Surprisingly, the thing was tougher than its bulbous appearance had led him to believe. This did little to calm him at the time, and he ended up sort of shuffling along to keep from falling over with his new feet.

Not too much later, he heard the sound of an old wooden wagon approaching and headed dazedly towards it. The top of what appeared to be a wizard's hat filled him with hope.

"Hey, it's you! What happened? Where am I? Wait!" he called, suddenly backing up and looking suspiciously at the old man. "You didn't do this to me, did you?"

The wizard smiled and halted the wagon. "It's good to see you again, too, my boy! All of your questions will be answered in time. The council, in what wisdom it possesses, has chosen you for a singular honor. Now, don't carry yourself that way! Stop scratching there! Frodo was a gentleman. Or a gentle hobbit, I should say."

The old man puffed a bit on his pipe, giving Nick time enough to give the excuse of, "Well, there's a bug in my pants!" and to try to figure out what this guy was telling him. "Wait—what? What council? What honor? I like the sound of that. What hobbit? Frodo? Did I bump my head too hard or something? You're talking about that geeky stuff at the convention! Is this some prank by my stupid uncle?"

Nick rolled his eyes and the old guy pierced him with a glare that quickly dissolved. "Frodo Baggins! – A name which you should learn to respond to, by the way – Listen! You've never been very observant, or you would already know where you are. Take this to heart: You will not always have someone to provide for you. You must learn to make your own decisions. Study is one way to make the decisions easier. Frodo was a scholar. I suggest you read a book or two. But you won't be alone. Why, here comes Lanie Fox, now!"

Nick had been scowling at the suggestion, but when he turned around he saw a short and stout male person coming towards them.

"That's a dude!" he cried. But as the person got closure he realized that even though the physical appearance was that of a male, he easily saw the girl he had met before by way of her mannerisms as she stumbled through the trees towards them. Glad to see someone familiar, Nick called out to her.

"Dude!"

* * *

The smell of chickens was all over the place. The noise was getting to an unbearable point; the wooden wheels relentlessly scraping the ground was maddening enough to rouse the dead, but to hear that, along with a hubbub of voices talking, laughing, and screeching, and of thudding feet thumping the floor—to and fro, to and fro—was torture! She wanted to scream, but she realized it must have been a dream and you can't scream at your dream and expect it to follow orders.

_I need to wake up, _she thought and, willing herself upright, she slowly opened her eyes and looked around for her watch. She rubbed her eyes when she saw hay all around her. The skin around her eyes stung then she decided to stop, but the hay was still there, still all around and underneath her. The chickens were around her as well. She stood up quickly realizing that it wasn't a dream. Her heart started racing, her eyes began to well, and she could feel a scream eking its way out of her when something began to nibble the seams of her hideous shirt. She turned sharply and saw a small goat. It mee'd at her. She backed away, slowly. She opened her mouth, but before her voice went out something else caught her attention. Her eyes were fixed on them. _They couldn't be real, _she hoped but as she bent down and touched them with her finger she realized, since she could feel her own hand, that they _were_ real, they _were_ hers… these large, furry feet.

A scream so loud it made the chickens fly out of all the windows smote the air.

"This isn't happening! I am dreaming this..." she kept mumbling. Someone, an old man, kept yelling at her, calling her Sam or something. She ignored him and ran off in search of the police—or a phone booth! She needed to call the Mayor, or the Prime Minister. She would even call the Queen if she had to. Someone had to make things right again.

"Hullo, Sam!" said an odd looking fellow. He had brown curling hair—they all had brown curling hair—and that thing they had for feet was also there. "Off to the party tree?"

She shook her head.

"What's the matter?" he asked and he began to follow her. "Are you ill?"

She cried in alarm and tried to run, but one of the overly large things got caught in a root and she fell, face first on the ground.

"Sam!" he cried, picking her up by the arms. "Are you alright?"

She stood and stared at him. "Am I... alright? Am I... ALRIGHT?"

He was looking at her with deep concern, patting her head gently with his hand—stubby, short hand. "Is it too much sun? Have you been gardening all morning?"

_Gardening_? _Where the hell am I? I'm in some kind of alternate universe or something! No! _

She wrenched her arm from his hold and tried to walk fast as far away from everyone as possible. Fortunately, the strange fellow decided not to follow anymore. She tried to recall how she got here, how she became—this! She stumbled through the streets and saw her reflection in a window.

"NO—NO—NO—NO—!" she groaned. "I'm… I'm… I'm Sam?"

She had always liked Sean Astin, but she never wanted to be HIM. Seeing him staring back at her made her guts twist in an uncomfortable knot. She gagged and felt her insides churning. She had to wake up. She ran to the nearest water source—a wooden tub where several ponies were drinking—and splashed the water all over her face. It stank of their smell and it didn't do what she had hoped it would—she was still Sam.

"I have to get away from here," she said to herself. She ran to what looked like a forest, mumbling ideas to herself. _Why am I here? Why am I Sam? Is this some kind of punishment? _She recalled every fairytale she had read where some kind of enchantment was placed on a prince or princess because they were nasty to an old lady that turned out to be a fairy. Then she realized she was nasty to an old person earlier. _The old man—was he a fairy? Or… a wizard?_ _ I have to find him! I have to apologize, or ask for the cure… _

Then she heard voices not far off in the distance. She followed the voices that sounded awfully familiar. She froze when she heard the word 'Dude!'

"I'm saved!" she said. Bursting with excitement, she ran faster toward the location of the voice, muffling her cries as she stubbed an overgrown toe every now and then. It didn't matter. She was saved.

Then she found the origin of the voices: it was Frodo—and… GANDALF!

"Dude!"

Then she realized it _wasn't_ Frodo. _And that's not Gandalf, either._ From the sound of the word 'dude' she knew, just like her, this was someone _not of this world._ Her heart sank, and her fear slowly turned into rage.

"YOU!"

* * *

Adi felt like she was in heaven. The pillow beneath her head was the softest she had ever felt, and the sheets around her were like clouds. She gave a long sigh and turned her head, the sun warming her face. She could feel the warmth flowing through her all the way from her feet to her curly head of hair.

_Curly hair?_ Adi's eyes burst open as she sat up. _What the hell is going on?_ She thought as she took in the room around her. It was unlike any place she had ever been before. There was a large wooden dresser, the shapes of leaves carved into it and stained a rich green. Beside that there was a trunk and a table with a map spread across its surface and a candlestick, wax frozen in its dripping path to the paper. A large rounded window was on the north wall letting in a thin stream of sunshine through the slit between the shutters. This wasn't her room at home, or her hotel room for the convention.

_The convention. What had happened? How did I get here?_ She remembered feeling very tired and... An old man. Gandalf. Where was he? Everything was so confusing... With a sudden start, Adi realized that Shane was nowhere to be seen either. A small painting of a stout woman with long golden hair was her only companion.

_This must be part of the convention. Some kind of weird trick. _Suddenly Adi noticed a tall mirror against the wall and walked over to it. When she looked into it she let out a whimper of shock. _That isn't me! _Instead of herself, Adi saw a young man dressed in a yellow vest with a green jacket beneath. His short pants were wrinkled, but she could still see the intricate designs in the brown cloth. Below that she saw what startled her most. A pair of long hairy feet. He was a hobbit! His face imitated her confused expression and she noticed that he moved with her, mimicking every motion perfectly.

"Well," she began, but stopped instantly. That wasn't her voice. "What the-" again she stopped. For some reason, whenever she talked a boy's voice came out. Before she had any more time to think a voice called from beyond the door.

"Pip! Pippin Took, wake up! We need to get ready for the party! Oh what will I ever do with you?!" The door opened and the stout woman from the painting walked in. She looked much older than in the painting, her hair now silver and wrinkles visible in her skin. "Well, it's nice to see that you're up and about, but how about getting ready then?" Adi shook her head in confusion. "Don't tell me you're going in those! The least you could do is put on some nice pants for Mr. Bilbo's party." The strange woman came over and opened the wooden dresser. "Here," she said, holding a pair of neatly folded trousers. "Put these on and get outside, we need to hurry if we're going to make it there on time." and with that, she scuttled out of the room and shut the door.

Adi didn't know what to think as she picked up the trousers from the table. As she did so, she noticed the map underneath it. The title read '_The Shire of the Third Age of Middle Earth_'. A legend showed little trees and hills and rivers flowing all over the map. Little doors were drawn in some of the hills and a name beneath. _Bolger, Proudfoot... Baggins._ It couldn't be true. Adi ran to the window and unlatched the shutters, opening them wide. Sunlight poured in and it took her eyes a moment to adjust. Once her vision had cleared she gasped, and put her hands to her lips. Spread out before her she saw The Shire. Not a painting or a poster, but the actual thing. A cart with a donkey rolled along the dirt road outside and across the river she could see a big water-wheel spinning. Hobbits strode to and fro along the streets, and many seemed to be heading to a clearing with a big tree in the center. The tree was covered in lights and decorations, and large pavilions and banners were being set up around it.

"The party tree," she said aloud, as she stepped back from the window. As she moved, she tripped over a large hairy foot and fell hard onto the wood floor. Looking down, she saw, with horror, that it was her own hairy-toed Hobbit foot. As she was about to cry out, the door opened once more and in walked someone she had never expected to see. "Merry?!" she said.

* * *

"Don't you 'Dude' me!" Lanie cried, pointing a stubby forefinger at what seemed to be Nick in a Frodo-costume. "I should've known you were somehow involved in all this!"

"Me? Involved?" Nick asked.

"Yes!" Lanie exploded. "Don't you dare deny it!"

"Deny it? I can't even admit it," he said coolly. Then he looked at the taller person in front of them both and only then did Lanie notice him. "Did you have to include her?"

"She has to come," said the old man.

"Why?"

"She's Sam as you are Frodo," replied the old man. "You two play a vital part in the story, a part which both of you should play accordingly in order for you to get out of Middle Earth. You know the story, right? You're Frodo and that is Sam—your gardener. "

"Story?" Nick said. "You mean, the Hobbit story—what was that?" Nick looked in the air, snapping his fingers as he tried to find the title of the film his uncle made him watch over and over for days. And then—"Lord of the Rings!" The old man nodded. "Then I am in—what's that place?"

"Middle Earth," supplied the old man.

"Oh, right!" Nick looked at Lanie again and smiled. "She's… he's… this person is my Gardener?"

"Sam is Frodo's closest companion," said Gandalf. "Sam is always at Frodo's side. Never leaves him for a minute."

"Well," Nick said with a melodious note, "looks like you're stuck with me kid!"

Gaping at the gargantuan man before her, Lanie tried, as best as she could, to comprehend what had happened. Why she was there? Why was Nick there? Why was he Frodo and she was Sam? Was it real? Was she dreaming? Had she lost her mind?

"No..." she said softly.

Nick snorted. "No. No… what?"

"No—No –No –No!" she kept repeating the word while her voice rose one-note higher each time. She took a deep breath, and then she made the most ear-piercing, migraine-stimulating shriek she could muster. It lasted for almost a minute, and when she stopped she didn't stay to hear anymore explanation. There was only one thing she could do in a situation like this.

She ran wildly to the opposite direction. She didn't go far because a few feet and a couple of lewd curses after, she managed to stump her foot on a branch, loose her balance, and bump into a tree. The blackness was calming until she saw Nick looking down at her.

"Bring her where?" he asked.

"To your house," said a deep, male voice.

_The old, gigantic man no doubt. _

"Alright," Nick said. Lanie saw him bend over and then it was dark again.

* * *

After being dropped off at a Hobbit house that Nick was informed his body usually lived in, Nick tossed Lanie into the nearest chair and dropped into one nearby to massage his burning muscles.

"Argghh! Why'd I have to get stuffed into some midget body? I didn't even like those movies!"

He spotted a few books and papers around and merely gave them a snort. After pacing around in front of Lanie for a bit, he smacked his head with the sudden realization that he should be doing something useful. He thought about finding some water to toss at the fat hobbit that Lanie had become, but couldn't remember if they had sinks in whatever time period he was stuck in and decided that performing a few push-ups would be better. A sweat was produced after only a few of the things, so he took his seat again and grabbed a book and started grappling with the title. He was told by the Gandalf person that he (and Lanie) should play their parts right in order for them to get out of Middle Earth and back to their own lives. He had to read up, but the book was handwritten and the writing was spidery so that the words weren't always clear.

"Whatever! If it'll get me out of here," he said, struggling to understand a sentence. Then the Sam person who was actually Lanie started to wake up, he glared at the book and started waving it under her nose. "Hey, what took you so long? Get up and get us out of here! You're one of those geeks! Figure it out, huh?"

* * *

Lanie's head felt like it had been kicked in by a horse—a huge horse with a very heavy shoe. She tried to recall what had happened to her before getting—wherever this place she was at now—when she heard someone ordering her around.

"W-what?" she mumbled.

"I said figure this out!"

The small, angry-looking midget seemed to have the same attitude as Nick and she would have discarded it all for a dream—a weird dream—but reality kicked in too soon and she began to remember what had happened before she blacked out. Suddenly, she felt like crying.

"What is it now?" Nick grumbled, for it was Nick, wearing Frodo's face and body. Lanie took one look at the stubby fingers in front of her face and then cried even louder. "Oh! Shut up!"

"Shut up? Shut up?" Lanie said. She was fed up with all of it, and she wasn't about to let this Tolkien-moron boss her around just because she had the unfortunate fate of being turned into his gardener. "Listen here you pathetic turd! I didn't want to be this—this—this GARDENER! Okay? This is not my idea! So don't you think for one second that I will treat you like you're my boss!"

"Ah, Lanie, like you have no choice," said Nick. "I am Frodo and you are Sam." He looked Lanie from head to toe. "Yeah—you're definitely a Sam. And that Gandalf person said we get out of here if we play the parts right."

"Yeah! Well he's wrong!" Lanie cried. "He's wrong about everything! Because I am NOT a SAM! I am NOT SAM MATERIAL! If I were to be changed into someone from Middle Earth I should have been turned into ARWEN!"

"Ar-who?"

"And you," she said, ignoring his query, "you should have been turned into an Orc! Or a Goblin! Or Smeagol! But you're definitely NOT a Frodo!"

"What? You think I like this gig?" said Nick sardonically. "For your information, brown and green with this kind of fabric doesn't suit me. And brown curly hair is certainly not my kind of hairstyle."

"I don't care!" Lanie snapped. "I never cared about you!"

"Well, I don't care about you either!" Nick returned angrily. "I want out of here! And if you want to get out, too, then you better start acting like that Sam person!"

Lanie knew Nick was right, and though she despised him he was the only way out of this predicament. She had to play the character or she'd never get out and be Lanie again.

She wiped her face angrily with the sleeve of her tunic and then turned to Nick, took the book from his hand, and with her stubby finger pointed at his face she said, "You're right. Okay, Shorty, I'll be Sam—"

"Good. Now, teach me how to be—"

"I will tell you how to be Frodo," Lanie cut him, "only if you stop acting like my freaking master!"

"But I thought—"

"You thought wrong! Because whatever it is that Gandalf wanted us to do here, we are only going to do it when we need to do it and only because we both want to get out! Understand? So, I don't need to work for you and you do not order me about. Until we get to the part where you and I actually NEED to work together, I am my own hobbit! Got it?"

Then she stormed out of Bag End and went straight to the nearest pub.

* * *

Nick tossed a, "Humph!" at her, grabbed another book, and sat back down to try to study. The old man told him to read books. Maybe that would be all it would take to get back to England. He hated reading, had never really gotten the hang of it, and quit after half a paragraph. He looked out the window to see if he could find where Lanie had run off to and saw nothing but a bunch of people in period costumes looking busy setting something up around a big tree. With that Gandalf person gone to speak with someone called Bilbo, he really didn't feel that much like a midget anymore. The weird feet weren't that hard to get used to, and he enjoyed kicking at things and not feeling much.

He decided that walking around and talking to some of these people would help him to get into his character. Someone who was obviously a Dwarf but looked like a giant bear of a man to him bumped into him on his way outside. The Dwarf grunted, bowed in apology, and stomped off with a, "Pardon me, Mister Baggins!" The loud clomping that the Dwarf's boots made seemed unusually annoying to him, but it reminded him to look for socks and shoes before heading out.

He was still frowning with confusion after checking the whole place twice when an older (and shoeless) Hobbit trotted in and slammed the door. The guy smiled at him as he bustled about, prattling about how busy things were and how bothersome it all was.

Nick interrupted with an exhausted whine, "Where're all the shoes?"

The hobbit gave him a baffled look, then seemed to understand and peered down the hall. "Has one of our guests lost their boots? Ah, well, I haven't the time to go looking! I still have gifts to address!"

Nick noticed that he didn't have any shoes on, took another peek out of the window, noticed that none of the other hobbits had any either, and winced. He hovered around the older hobbit as he scribbled away on little labels.

After a couple of beats, the guy sighed and half turned to him. "Have you seen all of the guests? I hope they all received their invitations. Have you seen Gandalf recently? He was here just yesterday. Oh, and, apart from the missing boots, are the Dwarves behaving themselves today?"

Nick blinked and wondered if he should have kept his nose in a book. He quickly offered, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Everything is good! Ah, I'll just go check on them!" before exiting, just to make sure that he didn't slip up in some way, oblivious to the fact that Bilbo just wanted to keep him busy.


	5. CHAPTER FOUR –MEETING ARA…GORN?

**CHAPTER FOUR –MEETING ARA…**_**GORN?**_

_**

* * *

**_

The party for Bilbo was exactly how it was described in the book, according to Lanie, and Nick, after finding that it was also his birthday, sulked because everyone was paying more attention to his uncle than him. It annoyed him also that none of the females of these Hobbit people seemed to find him attractive. They smiled at him, but none of them seemed to notice him the way he was noticed back home. Much to his surprise, Lanie was getting more attention from the ladies—well, one lady Hobbit anyway was all over her and she kept on swatting her away.

As the night went on, Nick discovered a few ugly dance steps that reminded him of an Irish jig he once saw on TV. He tried to imitate it in the hope that dancing would increase his chances of getting a date that night. But the more he danced the more he got ignored, so he went back to the table where Lanie sat miserably gulping down pints of beer (which the locals called ale).

Suddenly, the Bilbo person stood on a box and called the attention of everyone. Then he made a speech and at the end of the talk, he disappeared. Nick was just as surprised as everyone else when Bilbo disappeared into thin air (though some of the guests were greatly annoyed by the trick). Nick saw Lanie drop to the ground, drunk. He looked around and saw the two other people who, according to that Gandalf guy, were also from the convention. They were washing dishes and their faces were smeared with some kind of soot.

_Looks like they are all having fun, _he thought. He sighed and decided to go back to his house and found that the Bilbo person had left.

"What's this?" he said picking up something shiny from the floor.

"Bilbo's ring," said someone from inside.

Startled, Nick looked inside and found the old guy sitting in front of the fireplace.

"You scared me!" he said.

"He's left you Bag End, along with all of his possessions," Gandalf said smiling at him. He held out an open envelop and Nick understood that he was to place the ring inside it. He did and then Gandalf sealed it and gave it back to him. Then the old man stood and made for the door.

"Oh, that's great! Yeah, that's right, leave me behind," Nick said sarcastically. Gandalf paid no mind to him. "Where are you going?" Gandalf stopped and looked at him. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," said the old man. "Keep it secret, keep it safe." Then he left.

"What the hell?" he said, scratching his head. Nick didn't know what the old man meant by it all, though he knew that the thing was supposed to be important to the plot, he was never really sure what the big deal was. "It's just a piece of jewelry."

Shrugging, he decided to look for a place to keep it in. He found a chest in one of the many rooms in the house, and put the envelope in the deepest part of the chest he could reach. Then he decided to go to the room that was designated to him and decided to sleep.

While waiting for the Gandalf person to come back, he annoyed lots of Hobbits in pubs by trying out different dialects on them. His accent was horrible so he tried to adopt the accent he had heard the others use. In the end, he eventually stuck with sounding as intelligent as he could with an accent that was easier to use. He would sometimes slip up when his mind started to wander, but the others had become accustomed to his antics by then that they paid no attention to it anymore. Some of them even tried to help him out when he ran out of words to use.

He started reading bits of the different books that he had been left with, but none of them kept him interested after the first few paragraphs. He got most of his information from socializing, just like his old life. He did gain a bit more muscle, but not enough to satisfy him. The frequent meals and mostly sedentary lifestyle was starting to grow on him, though.

He saw Lanie around quite frequently, but she always seemed impatient for the wizard or fuming at her chores. He also saw the other two—Shane and Adi—who were a Merry Brandybuck and a Peregrin Took in this world, and they were always having all kinds of fun with each other, but never with him. They seem to avoid even getting close to either him or Lanie. He stopped bothering after a while, and decided to try to enjoy this strange vacation.

When Gandalf finally did show up, he was very contentedly full of food and beer. "Well, look who it is! It's the stalker freak, come to tell me nothing again!"

"It's time for you to go to Bree. The Black Riders have left Minas Morgul. They will be in the Shire in less than a week," he said to him as he dismounted from a very large horse.

"Go to… _where_?" Nick echoed. "Bree? What's Bree?"

"It's not a what, it's a where," the old man corrected him. "It's a town east of here."

"How do I find it?" Nick asked, oddly excited about this turn of events. He was going on another adventure it seemed, and possibly far away from Lanie.

"How do you find it?" the old guy echoed, his face contorted with annoyance. "You go east."

"It's not like I have compass with me, you know."

"You go where the sun comes out," the old man said. "That is east."

Nick nodded, pretending he understood what the old guy advised. The sun comes out of the sky, how was that supposed to help him find east?

"Is it secret?" said the old guy in a panicky tone. "Is it safe?"

Nick looked baffled for a while, but then remembered when he last said that and realized he was referring to the ring. Nick ran back into the house and opened the chest and sought the ring he had stuffed in there. He took it out and showed it to the old man who grabbed it from his hand and threw it in the fireplace.

"What the hell?" Nick said. "If I knew you were gonna to throw it away, I would have sold it!"

"Hush!"

"Hush?"

Then, with iron prongs, the old man picked up the ring and turned to Nick. "Hold out your hand, Frodo."

Nick looked at him in disbelief. "I'm not _that_ stupid, you know."

"It's quite cool," said the old man. Hesitantly, Nick held out a trembling hand and the old man dropped the ring there. "Do you see anything?"

Nick looked at him. "You're crazy."

"Look closely."

Suddenly, something did begin to appear: A writing of some sort in the outer and inner circle of the ring.

"Wow!" Nick said. "Amazing! What does it mean, though?"

"In the common tongue it reads: One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them," said the old man.

Nick looked at him, awed by the poem, but clearly clueless as to what it meant. He had the silliest grin on his face as he played with the ring with his finger.

"This ring kicks ass!" he said finally, and just when he was about to put it on, something hit his head. "Ow!"

"Fool!" the old man cried.

Wondering what had merited him a slap like that on the head, Nick gaped at the old man hoping for an explanation, but the old man asked him for tea instead. Afraid that he'd get slapped again, Nick decided to do as he was told. He didn't like tea, but made one for himself as well, and then the two of them sat on the table and the Gandalf person started talking.

* * *

Being Samwise Gamgee had its ups and downs, and for Lanie it was mostly down. She was not used to serving other people. She made it a point to always get soaked in alcohol by the end of the day if only to prevent her from doing something she knew she'd regret afterwards.

Aside from the very annoying Nick who was very good at pretending he was the boss of her, Lanie discovered that there were others like them stuck in Middle Earth from the real world. A certain Shane and Adi were introduced to her by Nick and though she hardly knew the two, she remembered getting into heavy debates with them in the Tolkien forum more than once about obnoxious canon information. She just had to have the last word on things, and the two were not always tolerant of her temper.

Strangely, the two were able to _understand _Nick quite easily and were adapting well to this world that more often than not, Lanie found herself wondering whether they had already left for the real world or they were still humans in Hobbit bodies like her. It would sound stupid to ask them so she didn't bother to do so, but it was something that nudged her like an annoying fly. The thought that she and Nick were alone in Middle Earth _again_ made the days longer and the nights uncomfortable.

Until finally, the day she dreaded the most came. Gandalf returned to the Shire and she saw him go into Bag End.

"He's going to tell him about the ring," Lanie said to herself. "And then tell him to go to meet him in Bree." Her eyes began to sting and slowly, tears started to fall down her cheeks. "And I have to go with him…"

"Lanie?"

Lanie looked up and there, standing a few feet from her door, were Pippin and Merry—or rather, Adi and Shane. They _were_ still here, like her and Nick and they came just in time.

"Wow," Lanie said, "perfect timing."

"Why are you crying?" Shane asked.

Lanie pointed the window of the house in front of her and the two saw the shadows of the people inside. Adi gasped.

"He's back!" she said.

Lanie nodded.

"You know what that means?" Adi said again, looking excitedly at Shane.

"Bree!" said Shane.

Suddenly, Lanie burst out in a loud wail.

* * *

Nick glared at the wizard as he trundled around the house and stuffed things in a pack. The Gandalf person had just told him why the Ring was so important and what they were going to do next.

"Yeah, yeah—whatever you say. Nothing I can do about it," he grunted with satisfaction at the weight of his assembled pack and then held a list up to consult, and then with a grin, he added, "Alright! Looks like I've got everything."

"Hobbits are amazing creatures," commented Gandalf, and Nick found himself feeling strangely proud.

Suddenly, the door opened and in came Shane, Adi, and behind them hobbling gloomily was Lanie.

"We're coming too!" Shane announced.

"Yes, you are all coming," said Gandalf.

Nick read the last bit of his list and then frowned with a bit of embarrassment, and then gave them all a serious look. "Uh, do you all have your handkerchiefs? I was reading some of my uncle's—well, old Bill Whats-his-face—notes, and he seemed to think that they are very important."

Shane and Adi giggled at his ignorance, while Lanie scowled and said something under her breath.

With a glare and a shrug, Nick said, "I don't know! I brought extra, anyway." He balled up his list and tossed it into a waste basket, and after a necessary, 'Two points', he whipped out a map from his pocket and strode out the door. "First stop, Bree. Barely a hike!"

Gandalf gave him a concerned look but mounted a horse and trotted along beside them.

They cut through the Shire, the book-readers pointing out landmarks to each other every now and then, Nick sighing and grumbling about the fact that there were most probably more exciting stories to get sucked into.

Once safely distant from any habitations, Gandalf looked down at them, "Be careful, the four of you. The enemy has many spies in his service: birds, beasts." He looked at Nick and added, "Is it safe?"

Nick looked to the sky for inspiration and twisted his face with concentration. Lanie elbowed him in the chest, digging the One Ring into him. He glared at her and was about to shout a protest when he grabbed the thing while rubbing at his probably bruised chest. He laughed at himself then gave the old guy a nod. Gandalf nodded back and gave his final warning, "Never put it on, for the agents of the Dark Lord will be drawn to its power. Always remember, Frodo, the Ring is trying to get back to its master. It wants to be found."

Nick gulped and watched as the wizard left. "That's creepy. Huh! Big help he is!" Feeling a wave of anxiety, he pushed Lanie back then gripped his map in a fist. "And don't elbow me again! I'm, like, the savior of the world now, so you'd better be nice to me!"

"Why you sonofa—" Lanie cursed, but she was cut off by Nick again and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming out loud.

He spun and tossed Adita and Shane a satisfied grin. "Heh! But we're supposed to be friends, right? Check out this map: Looks like the quickest way is through these woods. What do you guys know about a way through? You read those books, right?"

Lanie found it the perfect opportunity to smack him down with her standard sarcasm. "Oh, come on, Nick! Everyone knows _you're_ the only one who doesn't _read_ in this group!" Then she cackled at the end of the sentence just to put more sarcasm to her words. "Our goal is to reach Bree. It is not near and we don't actually have long legs so I suggest we get going."

As Gandalf galloped away from them, a thought crept up to Lanie's previously blonde head: Nick would be completely in her power from here on. He didn't know what to do next; she can order him about, make him do things, no matter how ridiculous they were as long as they ended up with the results as told in the book. However, there were the other two Hobbits, Adi and Shane, who could prove to be deterrent to her plans—unless, of course, she turned them into accomplices. She gave it a try.

"I was thinking," she said to the other two. "That Gandalf guy said that we had to come to the same end that the books did. You know—that idiot Nick has to get the Ring to Mount Doom."

"Yes?" Shane replied. "You're point is coming soon, I hope."

"I was wondering if we could get to the end without running into some of the things that the real Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin ran into." Lanie looked back and saw Nick staring at them with confusion. "You know, we can get to Mount Doom without running into, oh, I don't know… the Balrog in Moria, Gollum. Maybe that huge creepy spider..."

"Weathertop," Shane added.

That wasn't too appealing to Lanie, who had been wanting to give Nick a kind of punishment for bringing her here—because she blamed all of this on him, of course, and this disruption to her otherwise perfect life was not only uncalled for it was cruel, and cruel people need to be punished.

"We can't skip that," she said. "Besides, it might be good for Nick."

"What might be good for me? Food?" Nick asked cheerfully, coming up behind them.

Lanie turned around and smiled at him as she grabbed Shane's hand and squeezed it. "Yes, Master Frodo. Food! Of course! There will be plenty of that in Bree!"

Lanie saw Nick grin and slowly put his map away since none of them seemed interested in looking at it. Inside, Lanie felt awkwardly happy because Nick was playing straight into her plans. He was beginning to give her the reigns (even though there were the other two, to Lanie, they were nothing more than Extras to be dealt with. She was the star of this show and she was going to run it the way it ought to be run—her way!)

Suddenly, Nick seemed to have caught wind of something edible for he began to wander faster down the road and then bent down on some... Mushrooms! He was picking them when the other two eventually noticed that he'd stopped, and he managed to swipe a bit more before making room.

He laughed and pushed one back, grinning, "Aw! But they're mine!"

"Morons!" Lanie whispered, crossing her arms. Her stomach wasn't exactly agreeing with her mind because her palate was sending signals to her brain that say MUSHROOMS = FOOD. However, she still resisted the temptation to huddle with the rest of them because something was prodding her to pay attention. _Were they doing something wrong?_

Something about what was happening didn't quite feel right, and she tried very hard to remember what was supposed to happen here when Nick suddenly straightened and said, "Huh! Sounds like a horse. But there weren't any horses back home. Err, in that Shire joint." Then, he shrugged his shoulders and walked down the path, looking for more mushrooms. Then, he stopped again and looked back. "Yep! Sounds like a horse! Ah, Gandalf, maybe?"

It was then that Lanie heard the hooves and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She suddenly remembered what they were supposed to do here and realized this was a scene from the films; Frodo was supposed to warn them...

"Nick!" she said, muffling a cry with her hand. She grabbed Nick by the arm and pulled him away from the mushrooms.

Nick, being his disgusting self, licked Lanie's hand to get it off of him and he was about to protest, but then he tripped over a root and fell off the road. Lanie grabbed the other two and all four of them huddled together in a tight pack under a very large tree-root. Nick rubbed his head, looking at all of them. Then he said, "Well, I'm Nick, I know that!" and Lanie had to stifle him with her other hand this time as the sound of very large hooves thundered down the path and stopped right above them.

Like living a dream, Shane and Adi both felt a wave of déjàvu as the Nazgul sniffed the air for the presence of the Ring. Lanie was struggling, at the moment, to hold Nick down, so he did not put on the Ring.

Shane threw a rock and the startled Nazgul took off at its direction. "Come on!" she called to the others. "We have to get to Buckleberry Ferry! The Black Riders will have to go twenty miles to the Brandywine Bridge to cross!" The others followed Shane's lead, but Nick fell behind. He looked exhausted from fighting with Lanie. "Come on!" Shane called to Nick. "Keep up Mr. Athletic."

Lanie's heart was pumping like crazy and she knew somehow that most of her running was done with her feet in the air. _Hobbit on steroids_. In the movie, she knew that Peter Jackson had used actual horses that were about 8-feet to chase Elijah and company, but the ones chasing them were extraordinarily huge and they smelled nasty! For a moment, the thought that she'd be squashed under one of those big hooves hovered in her thoughts, making her squeal a bit as she ran.

'_If only I wasn't this short!'_ she said to herself. '_Run, feet, run! Hurry-hurry-hurry-hurry! Don't look back!'_

Lanie could see the others running like rabbits in the corner of her eye and knew where they were heading for—Buckleberry ferry—where a raft waited for them. They needed to get to the next crossing, which, according to Shane was 20 miles from where they were. 20 miles didn't sound that far in the movie. But then she saw the raft, and suddenly 20 miles sounded so far away.

"That boat won't sink, will it?" Lanie said aloud. Nobody answered her. Shane and Adi—or rather, Merry and Pippin, jumped the low fence and were already untying the raft (which looked even shabbier than the film version). Lanie got on the boat and pushed the edge of the wooden dock to send the raft on its way.

"Wait!" cried… someone. Lanie wasn't sure who it was between the two.

"What?" she cried.

"Nick!" Shane said, pointing at a small person running like crazy towards them.

Panting his favorite curses over and over with his short legs and his low endurance in mind, Nick almost stopped when it dawned on him that he was a main character in some silly story, so he couldn't be in any real danger. The nearest Black Rider's shriek, though, brought an unexpected lightness to his feet.

"Woah!" Nick cried, while dodging a hoof and rolling under a horse. He gave a laugh of triumph as his feet reached the wooden dock, but it was cut short and almost turned into a yelp when he thought that he felt the horse's breath on his neck. The beast had managed to turn and pursue faster than Nick thought they could. One desperate leap later, and he was on the boat. Nick was too relieved to wonder how he managed it, but there he was and the boat titled to and fro with his impact.

"Go, go, go! Let's go!" he cried as he watched the Black Riders turn away then slumped. "Whew! Safe forever!"

Lanie stood up, brushing anything that Nick left behind off of her quickly. She looked back at the rider and saw a few more of them riding away. '_They're going to follow us',_ was the sickening thought that kept rolling inside her head.

Suddenly, Nick found a red spot on his shoulder. "Huh? Am I bleeding? Did I hit something when I rolled?" Nick said, disturbing her line of thought. "That thing stunk! I think this might be horse blood. Ugh. That's gross."

"Lanie," Shane said.

"What?"

"We almost lost Nick back there."

"Yeah, so?"

"He's Frodo, Lanie!" Shane said, sounding impatient.

"I know that!" Lanie snapped.

"Yeah, well, you're not acting like you do," Adi added.

Lanie glared at them both. "Oh, that's nice! Gang up on the blonde! Look—I've gotten nothing but crap since I got here, okay? So—so—and this isn't helpful! What—you think I don't know how stupid it is that I have to serve this moron until he destroys the Ring? You think I like knowing that?"

Both Shane and Adi gaped at her.

"That's not the point, Lanie," Adi said.

"No?" Lanie said snippily.

"No!" Shane said. "The point is we need him to get out of here! _You_ need him! You're supposed to look out for him!"

"What?" Lanie cried. "I don't have to take care of him!"

"We never said you should take care of him," Adi cut in. "What we're saying is that you should start acting like Sam. He's Frodo, you're Sam, and you should be looking out for him. We almost left him behind back there! If he got captured by those Nazguls the story will change—"

The thought hit her like a mallet in the head. Her attitude towards Nick nearly changed the story.

"Well—if it did, then maybe we get to start all over again," she said. "This time maybe I get to be an elf, and—"

"What if it doesn't restart?" Nick asked.

"What?" Lanie echoed.

"He's right," Shane said. "What if the story doesn't restart at all? What if, after we changed the story, we have to continue with the outcome—what then?"

The thought made her throat dry. She didn't know the answer. Being in Middle Earth was one thing, but being in an _alternate_ Middle Earth was something else. It was hard enough being a Hobbit.

Lanie nodded and then looked down and, for a while, there was silence in the raft.

"Okay," Shane said shortly. "Since we have time to kill before the whole _chasing thing_ starts again, I suggest we fill Nick in on what is going to happen next."

"What'd I miss?" Nick said.

"We need to fill you in on what to expect," Shane said. "While we keep up with the story, the story will and should stay the same, giving us the advantage of knowing what will happen next. If we change even the smallest thing, it could change for the worse and we won't know what to do."

"Or it could change for the better," Lanie muttered. "Like Nick gets kidnapped by a Nazgul and I get the Ring."

"Lanie!" Adi said reproachfully. "You don't mean that!"

'_Oh, yes, I do!'_ Lanie said to herself. Suddenly a thought entered her head: was the power of the Ring corrupting her? It would be weird since she had never touched the thing and yet it seemed to be attracting her more than Nick. _Why did she want the ring so badly all of a sudden?_

The answer came quickly: She hated the supporting role. This supporting role was even worse because she had to be supporting someone like Nick; she despised his kind all her life: the cute, popular, full-of-himself type of guy who, until of late, never even looked at her. Before she hit puberty, Lanie was the fat kid the other kids made fun of; she was also near-sighted, so she had to wear thick glasses, which made her eyes smaller, and she had large, front teeth. She was the ugly duckling that nobody wanted to befriend. Then, one summer after her thirteenth birthday, her mother took her to a nutritionist who gave her a better diet plan. She started losing the baby fat, and before school started, she was down to regular size clothes. Then her glasses were replaced with contact lenses, and her mother took her to the salon where she got her first hair style done. Since then, all Lanie did was grow more and more into the proverbial swan, and suddenly the Nicks, who used to ignore her (and sometimes threw ice cream and peanut butter sandwiches at her), started to notice Lanie Fox, asking her out on dates, which she would always turn down. Soon, they were groveling at her feet. The people who used to order her around where now hers to command and she became the person she had hated all her life, but she'd rather be this monster than the ugly duckling.

Shane and Adi were glaring at her, so she decided to play it low until she could get Nick to herself. _'That's when I'll start to have fun. Those two turds won't be with us for long, you know. I will make sure you end up in the Dark Lord's tower, tortured for eternity, Nick, which is what you deserve for getting me stuck here!'_ Then a wonderful idea struck her—she had always wanted to write a fan fiction story wherein Sam (who, in her opinion was the real hero in the story) was the one that destroyed the ring. '_I mean, what if? I don't see how it would mess anything up, I mean, the goal is still the same, we have to get the ring to Mordor and destroy it in Mount Doom. I can be the one that throws it in, or,'_ she looked at Nick surreptitiously, _'I can push Nick in with the ring!'_

"Did you get that, Nick?" Shane asked.

Nick looked flustered and began rambling about what the two had told him.

"Oh, stop it!" Lanie said.

"Lanie!"

"Look—he's not gonna get it all in one day, okay? He hasn't read a single book, he might have seen the films—and probably slept through all of them—and now he's in it. You want him to remember details that took several books to explain," she said. "He's not that smart."

"Hey!" Nick cried.

"None of us are!" Lanie cut in. The statement made the other three hobbits look at each other incredulously, as if wondering what Lanie was driving at. "Well, if we," she pointed towards Shane and Adi, "were as clueless as he, that is."

Shane and Adi nodded. Nick was still glowering, but eventually nodded.

"So," Lanie said triumphantly. "Let's get the basics down first: We are heading for Bree, it's a town much like the one we left behind except in this place there are other people aside from Hobbits. We are heading there to meet Gandalf."

"Except he won't be there," Nick supplied.

Lanie looked at Shane, who smiled at her, cocking an eyebrow towards Nick. "At least something registered."

"What do we do when we get there?" Nick asked.

"We'll eat," Lanie said.

"That's good!" Nick exclaimed.

With that, the four of them managed to not argue the rest of the way to Bree. At least, until it started to rain, then the arguing started again.

"Give me your cloak Nick!" Lanie demanded. "My maps are going to get wet!"

"What, you don't have the maps memorized?" Nick retorted. "Use your own cloak."

"Knock it off guys," Shane said. "We're there."

"Good," Nick grumbled, pounding on the door which was built into the larger gate.

The upper hatch opened.

"Down here Bob," Shane called, looking up.

The lower hatch opened and an old man's face peered at Shane. "Do I know y'uns?"

Shane bit her tongue. Bob, the gatekeeper, had not yet, in his time line, met them. However, Shane had always loved Bob, thinking him a highly unappreciated character in this story. "I'm Merry, my companions and I are friends of Gandalf the Grey; we're to meet him at the Inn of the Prancing Pony. Will you let us in, please?"

Bob nodded, and opened the gate. "Go on to the Pony, but you won't find ol' Gandalf waiting. I was just talking to Butterbur this morning; we've not seen the Grey Pilgrim in months."

"He said he'd meet us, but if he couldn't, he'd send someone else to help us in our errand," Adi put in.

"What errand is that?" Bob asked.

"Our business is our own!" Nick put in, suddenly remembering a line from the movie, which contrary to what Lanie might think, he had watched.

"Alrighty then," Bob said, ushering them through the door to the Prancing Pony. "I meant no offense. It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folk about - can't be too careful these days."

Bob left them with a friendly nod as they made their way through the streets and into the pub that was the Prancing Pony. The four of them took a table far from the door and clear of any windows. Shane wasn't taking any chances in case the Nazgul would catch up quicker than expected.

"So, now what?" Nick asked. "What the heck are we supposed to do with this stupid ring?"

A deep, dark voice answered him, stepping from the shadows. "That Ring is no mere trinket, Mr. Baggins."

The four of them jumped, and both Adi and Lanie impulsively reached for their swords.

"You can no longer wait for the wizard, little hobbits," the stranger said quietly. "They are coming."

The sound of the voice was unfamiliar, sending chills up and down Lanie's spine. She was supposed to expect that line, but for some reason it sounded alien to her, as if she was hearing it for the first time.

She only had time to look up and see the looks on Shane and Adi's faces, when Nick, startled by the sudden entrance of the hooded man, snippily said to him, "Hey, who asked you?" Lanie wanted to stop him, but Nick stood up and turned to face the tall stranger (which Lanie knew was someone important only she could not figure out who it was).

"Wait a minute," Nick said. "Is this that guy? Aragon? Awesome! He's like, my favorite character!"

Lanie gasped and sharply turned to the other two. They were just as shocked as she was and before she could make a move, Nick turned around, sat back down, and then… _disappeared_!

"Oh, crap!" Lanie cried, then swiftly covered her mouth as Aragorn (who was, at this point in the story, should have been called Strider) glared at her. She knew he didn't understand what the word means, but hearing a foreign word like that was going to make this Ranger even more suspicious of them than he already was.

Shane and Adi jumped up from their seats and Lanie tried to grope the air that Nick used to occupy and found him still sitting there.

"Hey, watch it!" Nick snarled. "Look, if you're gonna start groping me—"Lanie winced at the thought and she slapped Nick's shoulder to stop him from finishing his sentence. "OW!"

"Nick! I mean… Mr. Frodo, sir!" Lanie rambled, looking at Aragorn frightfully.

"Are you frightened?" asked the Ranger.

'_You're a giant, I'm a Hobbit—of course I'm frightened_!' was the thought in Lanie's mind, but she could only nod at the Ranger.

"Not nearly frightened enough; I know what hunts you," Aragorn added.

Lanie gulped.

"Lanie!" Shane cried, tugging at her sleeves. Lanie's eyes darted to the far-end of the room and saw that something was making its way towards the exit, jumbling chairs and pushing patrons aside in an effort to get out.

"Stupid!" Lanie quipped, pushing Aragorn aside as she ran towards the door. It had only opened a few inches, when Lanie rammed herself against it, closing it abruptly, hitting someone from the other side and, apparently, hurting Nick at the same time because he yelped and then started whimpering.

"You idiot!" he cried.

"Take the ring off!" Lanie yelled, and grabbed something she was sure was Nick's ring finger.

"That's by dose!" Nick said shortly after he re-appeared.

Lanie removed her hand from Nick's very pronounced nose and apologized for squeezing it so tightly.

"_Ed' i'ear ar' elenea!_" ("By the sea and stars!") Aragorn hissed; he had grabbed them by the collars of their tunics and carried them outside and into another Inn across the Prancing Pony.

"This is so NOT dignifying!" Lanie muttered angrily as she was lifted indecorously with her feet dangling a few feet in the air. She and Nick were then thrown into a room, and shortly after came Shane and Adi before Aragorn shut the door and locked it.

"You draw far too much attention to yourselves," said Aragorn, looking at them as if he was about to trample them. Then he looked out the window and turned the candle off with his fingers.

Nick saw it and gasped. Lanie knew he was about to say something again so she stopped him, grabbing him quickly, and covering his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh!" she said, shaking her head. Somehow, Nick understood her cryptic message—something he rarely did, and nodded. "Really?"

"Shh!" Shane chided.

Lanie let go of Nick and all four of them decided to climb up on the large bed.


	6. CHAPTER FIVE—CUT HIM SOME SLACK

**CHAPTER FIVE—CUT HIM SOME SLACK**

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Nick watched Aragorn move around the room, but then he got dizzy and decided to focus his eyes elsewhere. He peered eagerly at the faces of his companions; they all had the same expression on their faces and he wondered if he had the same look on his.

"This is where it starts to get good, right?" he asked, trying to sound cheerful. "I wish I had some popcorn! Hey, this guy is the Aragon guy, right? You gotta remember that I don't know these things. We never even got that food we were supposed to. Are we gonna die now?"

His impish grin receded when Aragorn regarded him. "Nick, was it? Or is it Frodo? You already seem to know of me."

Lanie stiffened; were they changing the story already? Nick started and was about to answer, but Lanie kicked him. "Well… sir… we had read somewhere…"

"My name is not written in any book," said the ranger.

"Really?" Lanie said, in her turn feeling stupid for not knowing that.

"At least, not in one that little Hobbits would acquire," added Aragorn. Lanie decided to bite her tongue this time. "How do you came by it?"

Nick looked at them, desperation painted on his face. Lanie didn't have any answer, but fortunately Shane did.

"Why does it matter if we knew your name?" she said, sounding stupid with her fake British accent. "You know ours."

Aragorn smiled. "Fair enough. A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust." The Hobbits still held their breath. "Very well, I will not pursue the matter, at least not tonight." He stood up and, after looking out the window, looked back at them and added, "Stay here," then left them there in the room.

While Aragorn was gone, Nick bounced around the room, routinely peeking out of the window with little concern; surely this regular-sized human would be all the protection they'd need. "Huh! He looks shadier than the guy from the movie, I think. But he seems okay. What was it? Aragon or Ara...gorn? That sounds weird. Aragon is easier to say."

'_Shut up already!'_ Lanie said in her head. She decided keeping quiet was the best way to keep Nick quiet. However, he went on, rambling.

"Sorry about what happened earlier, guys," Nick said, pulling the ring out of his tunic. It dangled on a silver chain. "It just slipped on, I guess." He looked at the thing suspiciously then broke into a grin. "But it was pretty sweet going invisible. Would it make a horse invisible too, if I rode it? That'd be easy, right?"

"It's Aragorn, Nick, or Strider as he's called at this point in the story," Shane said. "And I don't know if the horse you'd be riding would go invisible. If you pay attention here, when we get home you can join the forum and post that as a discussion topic. Even if we find out while we're here, the others would be interested in debating it."

_'The_ _others'_, Shane thought passively. She wondered if there were more of the forum members here in Middle Earth, or if they'd had their own Middle Earth adventures in previous years, and not told anyone. _But why wouldn't they tell?_ Shane answered very quickly – _who would have believed them_?_ Who would believe us? We'd be considered crazy._

"Shane?" Adi whispered, settling down on the floor beside Shane.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll ever get back?"

Shane pondered for a second, reflecting on The Chronicles of Narnia and how the kids in that story had been whisked off to another world, practically forced to save it from all evil, and then years later returning to their own world, in fact only seconds after they'd left. Shane had the feeling that this was a similar situation, and related her thoughts to Adi.

Adi listened as Shane assured her that they'd get back, even if it seemed like a lot of time had passed here. Adi was comforted, not really even by Shane's words, but by her voice. Shane was a very compassionate person and Adi was glad to have met her and to have been swept on this journey with her.

Then, Aragorn walked back into the room. "Here are your things, little hobbits. You should try to get some rest now. We leave at sunrise, and we will not stop all day. It is a long, hard road through the wilderness, but it is the safest way to Rivendell."

"Rivendell?" Nick asked aloud. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he stood up and raised his forefinger. "Like where the elves live?"

Aragorn nodded. "Rivendell is the House of Elrond."

"Hey, what about breakfast?" Adi asked suddenly.

"Haven't you had breakfast today?" Aragorn asked.

"Today, yes," Adi said impatiently, "but what about tomorrow?"

Aragorn reached into his sack, and pulled out a big, red apple. He tossed it to Adi. "There's your breakfast tomorrow. We do not stop till nightfall, once we leave tomorrow morning."

Adi looked over to Shane. "What about Lunch? Dinner?"

Shane looked as irritated as she, but merely replied, "I wouldn't count on it."

Dawn came (or at least, Aragorn said it was dawn, though Lanie thought it was far too dark outside for it to be near morning) and they went on their way with little talk to each other since Aragorn warned them the Nazguls were right behind them. All too soon, it was dark again and Lanie felt as helpless as an ant. When they reached Weathertop, like in the movie, Aragorn left them at the top to scout the area below. Lanie knew this scene well and what was in store for Nick at the end of the scene. Shane was very good at keeping Nick informed, but even she didn't have the heart to tell him about the knife in the dark. Lanie wondered if she should say anything.

'_He might run away_,' she said to herself. She looked at the other two and they were looking at her, giving her some kind of signal. Lanie shrugged. _'I'm not gonna tell him!_' Deep inside, she knew Nick would blame her for not telling him the truth. '_Well, he'll blame me for everything anyway...'_

"So we can find another way back, right? I don't want to go through marshes! No way!" Nick said; he stopped poking fun at Lanie's weight (after placing incredible emphasis on how much he'd lost) and began recounting tips that had been tossed to him since this journey began. He was pacing around as he obviously wondered where Aragorn had gone to and why he was taking too long. "This place is creepy. Where's our next stop? I gotta get out of here."

Lanie wanted to tell Nick to shut up, but then he suddenly froze. Lanie looked up and saw Nick staring at the edge of what used to be Amon Sul. She couldn't see anything—yet—but she was too familiar with the story to be complacent. Nick had seen something, and judging by the way his breath came in short, sharp gasps, Lanie knew he had seen the Ringwraiths.

'_Should I tell him_?' But it was too late to do anything; as soon as Lanie stood, a loud shriek smote the air.

"What the hell was that?" asked Nick.

Lanie looked at the other two Hobbits, and they stood up and drew their swords. Lanie did the same and pulled Nick's arm.

"Stay away from the edge!" she cried.

"Will someone tell me what is going on?" Nick ordered. "What is that?"

"Ringwraiths!" Shane hissed. "Come on! Form a circle, back to back, so we can see where they come from!"

"Where's…Ara…gorn?" Nick stammered.

Shane whipped around to see Adi standing near the edge, stock still, and white. She moved away from the circle she and the other two were forming, and grabbed Adi by the hand. "Get a grip! We'll be fine, just follow the story!"

Adi nodded, and followed Shane quickly back to the center of Weathertop, reforming the defensive circle.

Shane, who had none of Lanie's hesitations about how much to tell Nick, turned around and grabbed '_Mr. Frodo'_ by the shoulders. "Nick, you are going to have to put the Ring on before this is over."

Nick looked startled. "But I thought Frodo _wasn't_ supposed to do that."

"No, he wasn't supposed to, but he did, so you have to as well."

"When? For how long?"

"Right before the Witchking stabs you," Lanie interjected.

"Stabs me? I don't wanna get stabbed!" Nick objected.

"Tough," Lanie said with a smirk.

"Just do it Nick," Shane ordered.

"Why do I have to get stabbed? Do you guys get stabbed? This isn't fair!" he complained. They were silent for a moment, too occupied with the danger right in front of them. Then Nick turned to Shane. "Why don't you stab the Witchking now, before he stabs me?"

"I can't!"

"Why not?" Nick cried. The Witchking was coming closer now. "Do something!"

"Because we have to stick to the story, Nick!" Lanie said sarcastically. "Have a little spine, will you!"

"Do you want to get beaten up by Gollum?" Adi asked Lanie.

"No," Lanie replied mildly.

"I doubt Nick wants to get stabbed either," Adi snapped. "So cut the poor guy some slack."

"Thanks!" Nick said to her.

"Just remember to put on the Ring right before the Nazgul stabs you, Nick!" Adi said. "He just stabs your shoulder! You will live through this! The elves will heal you! After this is over, you will wake up in Rivendell and Gandalf will be there!"

Nick looked somewhat less frightened now, knowing what lay ahead. "Got it," he whispered, as the Nazgul moved closer. Nick whimpered to himself, mantra-like, "Right before they stab me. Right before they stab me." He glared at the barrier they'd formed around him, wishing that he knew of another way out of there. Then the figures slowly advanced. Terror overcame Adita and Shane, and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Lanie shrank to Nick's side. He was hardly less terrified than his companions; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold, but his terror was swallowed up in a sudden temptation to put on the Ring. The desire to do this laid hold of him, and he could think of nothing else. He knew that the Ring was supposed to be evil in some way and putting it on was supposed to be bad, but even through his suspicion that these people wouldn't mind getting rid of him, something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escape, or of doing anything, either good or bad: he simply felt that he must take the Ring and put it on his finger. He could not speak. He felt Lanie looking at him, as if she knew that he was in some great trouble, but he could not turn towards her. He shut his eyes and struggled for a while; but resistance became unbearable, and at last he slowly drew out the chain, and slipped the Ring on the forefinger of his left hand.

Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he pushed past the others and ran. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down on Nick.

At that moment, Nick threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: "_O Elbereth! Gilthonie_l!" A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice pierced his left shoulder. Even as he swooned, he caught, as through a swirling mist, a glimpse of Aragorn leaping out of the darkness with a flaming brand of wood in either hand. With a last effort, Nick slipped the Ring from his finger and closed his right hand tight upon it.

"He did it," Lanie whispered, feeling remorse and guilt gnawing at the pit of her stomach as Nick slipped on the ring and disappeared from their sight. "The idiot actually did it! I didn't know he had it in—"

"Lanie!" cried Shane.

"What?" Lanie said angrily. "You're acting pretty bos—;" she made a half-turn and saw something coming at her with a sword, "—sy." She jumped back, fell over, and rolled out of the way seconds before the sword struck the ground. The blade had cut the edges of her curly hair and though she was sure she wouldn't get stabbed, because she felt the cut, Lanie was shaken to her core. A thought struck her: Anything could happen.

"Lanie!" Shane cried again, and this time Lanie did not resent her call. She turned and grabbed the handle of the short sword that Shane had thrown her. 'I'm gonna die!' she thought as the Ringwraith prepared to stab her again. 'I can't die! I can't—'

Suddenly, someone came screaming from the left side. Shane and Adi ran for cover as Lanie struggled to get up. She was about to join them, hiding behind a broken chunk of pillar, when she heard a sound—a faint cry—coming from… somewhere. She turned around and was knocked over by Adi.

"Hey, watch it!" Lanie cried.

"Nick!" Adi cried.

Lanie looked and saw Frodo, holding his left shoulder. "Mr. Frodo…"

"I've been stabbed!" he replied.

Lanie felt tears coming up, choking her, but she checked herself. _This is not Frodo,_ she said to herself. _It's Nick, and this was supposed to happen._ She went to him, as did the other two Hobbits, but Lanie did not sit or kneel or even attempt to show that she cared. She just stood by and turned her back on him—on them. Aragorn had succeeded in fending off the Ringwraiths—just like in the movie—but she had failed at being Sam.

"Nick!" Shane said.

"Strider!" cried Adi.

Strider went to them and told them that Nick had been stabbed by a blade from Mordor and that he needed the elves to survive—_just like in the movie_. They descended from Amon Sûl and ran the expanse that would eventually lead them to Rivendell. It was going to be a long run and there was no director here to say 'cut' or speed things up by chopping the negatives. They were going to do this for real. Running was already a difficult task for people with very short legs, but for people who had additional weight it was excruciating. Lanie could hardly keep up with the rest. She could hear her heart throbbing madly in her ears and wondered if she'd have a heart attack soon. But Sam never had a heart attack and they did so much running both in the books and in the films. This was just a preview of things to come and Lanie was all ready to give up.

However, the running, though difficult, was the last thing that Lanie thought of, because as they ran, one thing kept going through her like a corkscrew: guilt, she was overflowing with it. Nick had just been stabbed and judging by the way he looked, she knew he was suffering from an uncanny pain that won't go away unless they get to Rivendell. It was too far, and even though she knew he's supposed to make it there, Lanie couldn't help but wonder if he would.

_'Why am I feeling guilty? It's not like I stabbed him or anything.'_ She looked up, huffing as they struggled to keep up with Aragorn. '_It was supposed to happen. Sam couldn't stop it and neither could I. It's just one of those things that had to happen. They couldn't change that part in the movies. So stop feeling as if you're the one who's at fault!'_

"How much farther!" Lanie cried as she felt a cramp in her right thigh.

"We have to get Frodo to Rivendell, Sam," Aragorn replied.

"But it's six days to Rivendell! I'll never make it!" she said and then quickly checked herself. "I mean, _he'll_ never make it! He won't— Aragorn! Look at him!"

But Aragorn kept going. Shane and Adi stopped a bit to catch their breaths, but moved on (of course, Shane had to give Lanie a disappointed look as she passed her by) and Lanie had no choice but to follow them.

Trudging through an endless array of trees was dizzying—or it could have been the lack of oxygen to her brain that made her woozy—in any case, Lanie was sure she was about to faint. Luckily, Strider told them they could stop. They had made it to Trollshaw.

"Oh yeah?" she said so faintly no one heard her. "We…can stop…really?" She panted and grunted and coughed, and spat though nothing came out. Her mouth was so dry that swallowing was painful.

"Look guys!" Shane said. "It's the Trolls from Mr. Bilbo's stories!"

Lanie was too exhausted to look. She leaned against the trunk of a large tree and closed her eyes. As soon as she did, her mind began to wander off. She found herself inside a Hobbit house, and from the looks of the furniture, it was Bag End.

"Mr. Frodo?" Her voice dropped like lead. "I'm dreaming." She walked further into the hallway and found an old man sitting in the kitchen—smoking! "Who are you?"

The old man turned around and he looked familiar, though Lanie could not remember his name. "The better question is: who are you?"

"Me? Why, I'm Lanie," she replied. "Lanie Fox."

"You sure about that?" the old man asked.

"What?"

"The last time I checked, Lanie Fox was a sweet girl," said the old man. "She was everybody's friend. She was a Tolkien-fanatic, too. Loved the books and forgave Peter Jackson for the movies, which she also loved. She was a person who loved to make friends and who loved helping others find the goodness in them."

"I'm still that person..."

"Are you really?" The old man's voice was taunting her to look at herself in a mirror and, just when she was about to reconsider doing it, she found one on the wall to her left. She wasn't Lanie Fox—at least, the reflection showed someone else. She remembered everything just then—where she was and why she looked like an uglier version of Sean Astin.

"So, who are you?" the old man asked.

Lanie felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't want to be Sam anymore."

"Why not?"the old man asked. "Sam is a great character, many people consider him as the true hero of the story."

"But he's not the true hero of the story—Frodo is! And that part is given to a complete dolt!" she said angrily. "Why was I chosen to be Sam?"

"Who do you want to be then, if not Sam?"

"I should have been Galadriel! Or Arwen, or even Eowyn!" Lanie cried. "Why Sam? Why him?"

"Why not him?" said the old man. "Do you think that playing anyone of those ladies will be good for you?"

"They certainly fit me!"

"Why—because you're a woman or because you feel like you are royalty and wish to be treated as such?"

The words hit a nerve. She didn't like being reminded of the kind of person she had become since she stopped being ugly duckling. People whose opinion mattered to her told her to change, but she refused to mainly because she was still enjoying her revenge—or at least that's what she tells herself. _The kids were mean to her because she was fat_. She had to make them pay for all the cruel things they did, but after she had had her revenge, she didn't stop being Foxy Lanie. She kept on being mean to them and to other kids who were going through their ugly duckling stage. She knew that she had turned into the very person she hated before and she _needed_ to change.

"Okay, I get it," she said shortly. "I need to change, but why Sam? Why couldn't I have been Rosie, or an elf?"

"That's why you're here," said the old man, "to figure it out."

"What?"

"Sam…"

"SAM!"

Startled, Lanie blinked and saw Strider—he had been calling her. "Sam! Do you know the Athelas plant?"

"A—Athelas?" she echoed.

"Kingsfoil?" Strider said.

Something snapped inside her and she heard a voice in her head that said, _'You are Sam for a reason. Be Sam and you will find the reason and the reason will bring you back home.'_

"Kingsfoil—why, that's a weed!"

"It may help to slow the poison," explained the ranger. "Hurry! We need to find some!"

"Right!" Lanie replied, and she went into the thickets looking for a weed-like plant. "All these plants look alike! What the hell am I looking for?" She picked up several shrubs, hoping one of them was Athelas and brought it to Strider. He tossed them all back to the ground and gave her a look of bewildered annoyance. "Right—my apologies!" She ran back to the thickets and looked for other weeds. '_Some gardener you are—can't tell Athelas from grass!_'

Then a shrill sound smote the air—Lanie stopped and looked to right; her body shook with fright. The Nazguls were closing in on them.

"Nick," she whispered. She had forgotten about him. She ran back to the place where the others were and saw a beautiful being on a white horse. "It's an elf." The elf took off his helm and revealed a chiseled face. "It's a guy-elf!" Lanie walked closer to the elf who was now engaged in some kind of debate with Strider.

"_Dartho guin Berian. Rych le ad tolthathon_," Strider said.

"_Hon mabathon, rochon ellint im_," replied the elf.

"_Andelu i ven_," countered Strider.

"_Frodo fîr, ae athradon i hîr, tûr gwaith nîn beriatha hon_," said the elf.

Strider nodded—it seemed to be the end of the debate. The guy-elf picked Nick up and put him on the horse. The elf mounted the horse and they were saying their goodbyes. '_They are leaving—with Nick!'_

"Where are you taking him?"

"_Noro lim, Asfaloth_!" cried the elf and the horse whinnied and galloped, and they were soon out of sight.

"What are you doing?" Lanie cried. "Those Wraiths are still out there!"


	7. CHAPTER SIX—RIVENDELL… OH, YEAH!

**CHAPTER SIX—RIVENDELL… OH, YEAH!**

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* * *

  
**

Lanie felt a gnawing pain in her stomach as the elf galloped away with Nick. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard Nick screaming something about a chick.

"Good luck," she whispered. She wasn't sure why she said that, it just felt right.

Then Aragorn told them to get ready for they were going to proceed to Rivendell on foot. For the first time, Lanie felt lost. This was a part of the story that was not tackled in both the books and the movies. Everything from here until they got to Rivendell was completely their own, and they have to make sure that whatever they do here doesn't affect the story.

Lanie decided that silence was the best treatment for this time; Aragorn had them go on the journey towards the Elven haven a lot slower than when they had Frodo with them. The threat followed Frodo, so for the meantime, they were safe to walk and not run. She thought that keeping mum about anything and everything would help keep the story on the right track.

However, the others had different ideas about it.

"Why didn't you tell him about Weathertop?" Adi asked.

Lanie glared at her, and looked at Aragorn. He appeared not have heard Adi's silly question, but Lanie knew he did and he was already very suspicious of them. She decided to ignore Adi.

"Lanie," Adi said, grabbing Lanie's right arm.

"Will you shut up?" Lanie snapped.

"Hey!" Shane cried.

"Oh, that's right, gang up on me!" Lanie said sardonically. "Is this a hobby with you guys, or do you just not like me at all?"

"What is the problem here?" Aragorn said, startling the Hobbits. "The Nazgul might have followed Frodo to Rivendell, but that doesn't mean we are safe!" He looked at their frightened faces one by one. "The Dark Lord has many minions in his service. If you have to argue, do it as quietly as possible. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.

Aragorn turned, but before he moved forward, he turned around again and said, "You are by far the strangest creatures I've met."

"Surely, you have met Hobbits before," said Shane—in an almost comical accent, neither British nor Australian, that both Lanie and Adi looked at her and smirked.

"Yes, I have," Aragorn replied, "and none of them use words like you four have. None of them speak like you do. In fact, there is an air about you four that almost feels like you do not belong here."

"In the forest?" Lanie asked. Shane gave her a dig with her elbow. "Ow!"

Aragorn sighed deeply. "I don't know if I am right with my suspicions, but I know this much: Gandalf trusts you, and that is enough for me not to press you with questions of my own until we reach safer grounds." The Hobbits looked at each other and sighed collectively. "Nevertheless," they held their breaths again, "I will ask questions once we arrive in Rivendell, and with all the trouble I have endured in getting you there I don't suppose it will be too much to demand for your honesty."

Shane and Adi nodded their heads, Lanie didn't move at all. She wasn't sure she should be honest with Aragorn. Telling him they were transported here from another world might have adverse effects on the story.

But it was enough for Aragorn. As he turned around and looked up at the sky, he said, "Dawn is breaking. Let us move on. We still have two days of travelling left to us. If we're lucky, we won't be bothered by anything more than hunger and weariness." And he moved forward, walking a good ten paces ahead of the tired Hobbits.

Lanie kept grumbling to herself as they walked, but decided to do exactly what Aragorn said to them. Moving quietly and quickly was the best way to see this part of the story through, but Shane and Adi didn't agree with this idea and they moved in on her and grilled her until the evening.

"What do you want from me?" Lanie whispered angrily.

"We want you to cooperate!" Shane said, trying to say it as softly as she could.

"I am cooperating!" Lanie retorted.

"You should have told him about the stabbing stuff!" Adi pressed.

"And what? Let him run away—unless you two have been somewhere else during this whole process, you should know that Nick is not that brave! You saw his reaction when you blurted out all those details about Frodo!" Lanie said.

"But, still, you should have told him!" Adi egged. "He should know what will happen so he can prepare for it!"

"He's not like that!" Lanie said. "He's not like us—he won't do what we want him to do if he knows he'll get hurt. He will try to do something to change the story!"

"No, he wouldn't!" Adi insisted.

"Yeah, he would!" Lanie said.

"No," Shane said.

"Oh, what, you gonna take her side again?" Lanie said. "Figures!"

Shane smirked at her, but said, "No. This time, I think Lanie is right."

"What?" Adi said.

"We can't tell Nick what will happen to him, especially if he'll get hurt," Shane said.

"Why not?" Adi asked. "Wouldn't you like to know if you were gonna get hurt?"

"Yeah, I would, but I will do exactly what any normal person would do, and that's not what we want Nick to do. If he finds out he'll get hurt, he'll try to find a way out of it," Shane explained.

"Wow! You actually have brains!" Lanie said sarcastically.

"Don't push it, Lanie!" Shane snapped. "I agree with you on this, but you have got issues, too. You have to start acting like Sam or _you_ will change the story." Lanie opened her mouth to speak, but Shane cut her off before she could utter a word. "Remember that we won't always be together in this adventure and when it's only you and him, you have to _be_ Sam—not just look it, Lanie—you have to love him enough to carry him on your back and go up Mount Doom."

Lanie gaped at her. She had completely forgotten that part.

"Will you do _everything _that Sam did?" Shane asked.

Lanie refused to answer. Instead, she looked away.

"I thought so," Shane said, nodding.

Then they turned and continued walking in silence. Aragorn was kind enough to look for food and even wondered why they had not complained at all for hours. Lanie suggested that they ask for food from then on, so that Aragorn won't be so suspicious. The two agreed with her and so they bugged him about lunch and dinner. Adi also suggested that they start calling him Strider instead of Aragorn, and that, too, surprised the ranger for he had not given them that name. But this one was easy to escape; they told him that the old bartender at the Inn told them his name, and he believed them, or at least appeared to have done so. They were really never sure with him—which was part of his charm.

As they went through the woods for another day's hike, something happened to Shane that she couldn't explain. Suddenly, she didn't see the woods anymore, but rather her own front porch in their world and Gandalf was there waiting for her, sitting on a chair.

She moved towards him and asked, "Is this a dream?"

"Call it what you like," Gandalf told her. "It is both real and imaginary, both tangible and a floating mist."

"You speak in riddles," Shane accused. "Not that that's the point. You've brought me to this place for a reason."

Gandalf nodded. "You alone of the four seem to be adapting quite well to Middle Earth. You lead when a leader is needed, and you follow when that is the right course. Aside from your bickering with the other three, Aragorn would not be able to tell you did not belong in Middle Earth."

Shane shrugged. "So?"

"You seem happier here than in your own world."

"I am," Shane confessed. "Our world, and my place in it, is hard. Everywhere I go there are twists and turns I have to deal with. I like knowing what's ahead, I like it here."

"Have you considered what happens if you complete your journey?"

"We guessed we'll go home then."

Gandalf nodded. "The truth is that I have been here, lingering both in this world and the others, for many years. My only way out is to find four people who can complete the journey of Frodo, correctly. I have tried many times, but your group is doing well! I wish to go home just as much as you."

"As much as they..." Shane mumbled, and then she stopped.

"You want to stay, forever?" Gandalf asked, raising his eyebrows.

Shane did not answer.

"Interesting, very interesting," Gandalf said.

Suddenly the porch faded and Shane found herself still walking with Aragorn, Adi, and Lanie, as if nothing had ever happened.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked herself. She looked at Adi and wondered if she should share this experience with her or not.

Adi was at the head of the line, even in front of Aragorn, as they trudged the last miles toward Rivendell. Out of the four of the forum members, she was obviously the fittest. This came from years of poverty and surviving on the streets. She had discovered Middle Earth for the first time when her brother got in a car accident and she had to watch over him day and night. A nurse from the hospital gave her a copy of The Hobbit to entertain her and then she found a copy of Fellowship of the Ring from a nearby dumpster and then started collecting the rest of the series by working for other people.

Adi's mom didn't live with them. Cocaine was so easy to come by in Chicago, and her mother knew every dealer by first and last name within the city limits. She'd been in and out of Adi's world since she was about six, but always came back to Chicago on her only daughter's birthday. Well, until last year – last year she'd not shown up, and Adi's dad had called the police. They found her mom in some alley, beaten up very badly, with bleeding puncture marks all up her arms, where she'd been shooting up. Adi's dad checked his wife into rehab, and then filed for divorce. Now, Adi's mom was still in rehab, and she had just gotten a new step mother. Her step mother was hardly older than she was.

Adi was remembering the last time she'd gone to visit her mother, when suddenly, she was standing there, at the rehab center. "Well this is an interesting place to arrive." Adi turned sharply to face the old man – Gandalf. There were people all around them but no one seemed to notice the cloaked and bearded man. "How did we get here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, and we arrived in whatever memory you were having at the time. Where are we?"

"The rehab center where my mom's at."

Gandalf nodded knowingly, as if he'd already known the answer to his own question.

"Why are we here?" Adi asked.

"Because you need to understand when you're there…" he pointed at a car window, and in the reflection she could see herself and the other girls following Aragorn. She saw them for what they really were, not as Hobbits.

"Wow," Adi breathed. "Look at Shane! She looks so beautiful there." Adi realized what she's said, and blushed.

"Do you know why you were selected to be Pippin on this journey?" Gandalf asked.

"No," Adi replied. "But I thought it was odd. Pippin was a Took, a fairly wealthy hobbit family, well respected and liked, and I'm…poor."

"Why are you poor?" Gandalf inquired.

"Because I was born into a poor family."

"You're old enough to work, but you don't. You're old enough to be thinking about collage, but you don't even consider that. Why? Be honest."

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"You are poor because you don't know any better, and because you've never been encouraged to be better than whom you were when you were born. You are Pippin because you need to look at a better life, learn how to work hard, and when it's time for you to go home, to take those lessons with you."

The scene faded before Adi had a chance to even think of a reply. And then she was walking again, but now she was thinking about her future, instead of her past.

* * *

Nick, who had woken up and had been concentrating on looking tough through the pain in his shoulder, glared at the elf with confusion, then just kept looking at the others for direction on what to do. As the horse galloped away from them, he wanted to call out, "Don't worry about me, Sam!" but he suddenly realized what was off about this elf, so they only heard, "Wait! He's supposed to be a chick! This sucks!"

He clung to the elf in terror when the Black Riders behind them gave a cry, summoning more to cutoff their path. He felt a surge of hope when they crossed a river, but when he looked back, he saw all nine of them and felt more than heard a command to stop. A sickening hatred made him want to vomit, and he desperately tried to remember anything his uncle had told him about the Flight To The Ford chapter.

"Uh...uh, in the name of Aslan, back off!" he cried, but even his voice came out faint.

One Black Rider spurred his horse into the water. At its gesture, Nick felt his tongue stick in his throat and his heart laboring. Gasping, trying not to cry, and wondering if the half-remembered name "Eru" would have been more helpful, he wasn't sure about what to report on what happened next. Besides all of his other troubles, the elf seemed to have turned on some really bright light, and then the river seemed to rise up and wash the Black Riders away.

He was reassured that those things hadn't been a dream when he found himself in something that was far more probably one. He was in his eccentric uncle's house, a cave-like but well-furnished green home, sipping some tea. He was sure that it was a dream, but the taste was so real and so memorable that he wasn't sure how quickly he should dismiss the old man standing in front of him, waiting patiently.

"Sir?" Nick asked hesitantly.

"Was that a question? You'll need to remember how to answer your own questions, if you ever want to get back."

"Uh, what? What questions?"

"Still not getting it, eh? Look around. Answer your questions."

Nick, still thinking that he should have done something different before he passed out, wasn't about to argue. He smiled wistfully when he recognized the room they were in. A wall of bookcases, a huge chair with over-stuffed cushions, and the little beautifully-carved one his uncle had gotten made just for him. A tear came to his eye when he remembered how much fun they'd had, and how he'd loved story time at his uncle's house.

"Why'd it stop?" he asked no one in particular.

The old man came back into view, nodded sadly, and said, "That's the question. You know the answer. You chose to forget this. You can't go back in time, but you can correct your mistake." Nick nodded. He knew why he chose to forget, but he didn't want to think about that. Hearing voices and knowing that he'd have to wake up soon, he tearfully grabbed at several of his favorite books and took them back to the little chair.

Before he could get into them, he woke up and found himself lying on a bed. After rubbing sleep from his eyes, he gaped at his hands and blurted out, "Who am I?" He laughed at himself, wished that he could remember more from his dream, and stared at the ceiling. "Huh. Okay, so where am I, and is it time for lunch?"

A voice answered, "You are Frodo Baggins, in the House of Elrond, and it is ten o' clock in the morning. It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know."

Nick's voice had a touch of delight as he looked and saw the wizard sitting on a chair beside his bed. "Gandalf!"

"Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home." Nick wanted to point out that all of the problems he'd been having since leaving the real world were Gandalf's fault, but he was sure that he wouldn't be winning any arguments.

He touched his shoulder and tried moving it. "Not too bad! How are the others?"

As Gandalf reassured him and explained what happened, Nick was charged with an eager energy. He knew that things were going to get much worse. This was his last chance to relax, and his uncle would kill him if he didn't have as much as possible to report on what Rivendell was like. He hopped out of bed and made for the door.

"Well, thanks, Gandalf. I think I'll just go look for the others—umm—and maybe some food, too."

* * *

The road to Rivendell was long, but because the enemy followed Nick/Frodo earlier, it was not as perilous as Lanie and the others had guessed. Actually, it got to a point where it was so boring, Lanie started talking to herself. She had distanced herself from the two other Hobbits and it was not out of spite, but more out of confusion—confusion about what she was supposed to do next. Since having that weird _dream_ where Gandalf told her to _be_ Sam, her memory of Middle Earth started to get all fuzzy. She wasn't sure if they were supposed to get attacked while on their way to Rivendell and she had been expecting an attack since Nick was taken off by the elf.

But they arrived at Rivendell unscathed, and the first thing she wanted to know was if Nick was still alive. She went straight to the room where the elves said he had been taken to, where Lord Elrond was healing his wound, and when she saw him, she felt sorry for him. He was so pale and so helpless and for a moment, she had forgotten who he was underneath that Frodo-suit. She touched his hand and grasped it tenderly, and she began crying. Then a tall elf approached them and said in a solemn voice:

"He is well. He has been called him back from the darkness. You and your friends are safe in this place, and are welcome to all the amenities that you may need. Rest so that you might regain your strength."

Lanie knew he was Elrond and the face that went with that deep voice not even close to the movie version of Elrond. This Elrond had both wisdom and youth neatly combined in the features of his face (unlike the movie Elrond—who was also Agent Smith in the Matrix movies—had such a high forehead, he looked more alien than elf). This Elrond looked and sounded like an elf—her idea of elves was very fantastical, old school, like the way they were illustrated in the first editions of the books—wise and dangerous and calm all at the same time. Nothing about him was familiar to her, but for some reason, it didn't matter.

What he had told her though calmed her a bit and as she returned to the house where the other Hobbits were, Lanie decided to rest as Elrond had recommended. Four days after they arrived at Rivendell, Nick woke up.

"He's up!" Shane cried.

Lanie blinked and tried to drive the sleep away from her eyes.

"Get up!" Shane said, tugging at the blanket. "Let's go and see him!"

Lanie sat and looked outside. It was morning, again, and another day at Rivendell meant another day of good food, great music, and amusing company. But now Nick is awake.

'_What would Sam do?'_ she asked herself. '_I should be excited and go and see him and get all warm and cuddly and…'_

"Lanie! Are you coming or what?" Adi cried.

"Yeah, yeah," Lanie groaned. "I'm coming…"

She walked out and the two Hobbits had disappeared. She looked around and when she couldn't see where they went, she decided to find the room herself. When she got there, it was empty.

"Nick? I mean, er, Frodo?" she called. No answer. "Mr. Frodo?" Still nothing. She walked out of the room and decided to go look for the others. She had been going around what seemed to be an enormous compound for what seemed like hours when she finally found someone standing under a tree. It was Aragorn, and he appeared to be talking to someone else. She crept closer and saw that it was a woman, a very beautiful woman…with pointy ears. "Arwen…"

_"Renich i lú i erui govannem?"_

_"Nauthannen i ned ôl reniannen."_

_"Gwenwin in enninath. Ú-'arnech in naeth i si celich. Renech i beth i pennen?"_

"It sounds more romantic in person," she whispered to herself. Then she turned around and sat on the ground, sighing to herself. Then, she remembered she was supposed to be looking for Frodo and she immediately jumped up and walked back to the room.

When she got there and found that it was still empty, she decided to go back to her room and stay there. Shane and Adi would always come back to that place and hopefully they'd bring Nick with them.

However, the night deepened and none of them returned. Lanie got suspicious and so she went out and searched for them again. She found several elves walking about and decided to ask them for directions. Two pointed her to a house near the center of the compound.

"That is where old Bilbo stays," one said.

"They've been with him all morning," the other supplied.

"You know how Hobbits are, they never tire of talking," said the first. "You should hurry; I saw them yawning not too long ago."

"Crap! Thanks, bro!" she said, and as she scuttled off, she heard the elves commenting about the words she had used. She was a bit sorry that she let it slip out, but eventually she decided it was for their own good to know real-world words anyway.

* * *

Rivendell was beautiful. Shane and Adi decided to go exploring a bit together, for a moment forgetting who they were supposed to be and how dire the situation was. For that moment, they weren't Merry and Pippin, just Shane and Adi.

"Do you think the four of us will be friends forever," Adi asked. "When we get back to our world, I mean?"

_If we get back_, Shane thought. "I don't know. Nick is growing on me like a weed, but Lanie still gets on my nerves," she said. "You…" Shane blushed. "I know I want to stay friends with you."

Adi suddenly felt bold, something that never happened. "Just friends?"

Shane knew what she was leading up to, but didn't want to go there yet. There was too much to think about in Middle Earth that to think about romance… on the other hand, this _was_ Rivendell—if there was one place that would remind them of romance, _this_ was it.

"Who knows what the future holds?" Shane decided on as a reply.

"Yeah…" Adi said softly.

_Oh hell with it!_ Shane suddenly said to herself. Adi was leaning against a wall in the deserted hall they had wandered into. Shane moved forward and kissed her. Suddenly, like it had been with the visitations from Gandalf, they were in another place, and saw each other as they truly were.

Adi kissed her back and wrapped her hands around Shane's waist, pulling her closer. The world around them seemed to be spinning and while they knew it was their world they could not have identified it even if they paid attention. Everything was just a blur, melting away as they kissed.

Then the kiss ended, not in embarrassment as both had feared, but in confidence. Suddenly, they were back in Rivendell, back appearing as hobbits, but it didn't matter.

Shane took a deep breath. "Adi, when we get back to our world, I'm going to ask you out."

Adi giggled. "And I'm going to say yes."

Both blushed, and then hand in hand walked down the corridor.

"Where's Lanie?" Adi asked suddenly. "Do you think she followed Nick to the Council, like in the books?"

Shane looked thoughtful for a moment. "Probably, though I doubt that she did it for Nick or the story's benefit. She's just curious. Ha! I'm starting to see why Gandalf chose her for Sam; they do have some of the same tendencies."

Adi nodded. "I was looking at the maps earlier and found a route to the Council dais. How about we go look in on things ourselves?"

Shane shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

Adi slowly let go of Shane's hand. "I'm not sure how elves feel about homosexuality, so we should be careful when we're not alone."

* * *

Without a guide, Nick quickly got lost. It was a very pleasant place to be lost in, and he found much that he didn't remember being told about, but his stomach and nose eventually led him to a kitchen. After telling some elf that he was Bilbo's nephew, he got a bite to eat and was directed to the Hall of Fire. He thought that he might have gotten lost again, but a song stopped him. Although it wasn't really suited to his taste, he was impressed by the voice. He poked his head in with a smile and was surprised to recognize and translate a few words of the song.

He had been told that Frodo was a scholar, so he concentrated and tried to see if he could work out any kind of story being told, but he was distracted when he found Bilbo leaning up against a pillar. The old hobbit didn't look anything like his real uncle, but his heart warmed at the sight of him.

"Bilbo!"

Bilbo looked up from his musings. "Hullo, Frodo, my lad! So you have got here at last. I hoped you would manage it."

"Well, yeah! It was just my shoulder. They were probably just keeping me out so we couldn't team up, heh! So, how have you been, since you left?"

Bilbo began telling him about his adventures, but Nick's behavior and speech caused him enough to concernedly say, "It is a pity that Gandalf did not find out more about my ring sooner. I could have brought the thing here myself without so much trouble. I am frightfully glad to see you safe and sound." He paused and looked at Nick doubtfully. "Have you got it here? I can't help feeling curious, you know, after all I've heard. I should very much like to see it again."

"Hm? Oh, sure. I wish I could have had the fun you did with this thing." He drew the Ring out from under his shirt. Bilbo held his hand out, but Nick snatched it back in surprise and disgust. He found that he was no longer looking at Bilbo. A shadow seemed to have fallen between them, and through it he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands. He retreated and felt a strong desire to kick him.

The music and singing round them seemed to falter, and a silence fell. Bilbo looked quickly at Nick's face and passed his hands across his eyes. "I understand now," he said. "Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden: sorry about everything. Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. Well, it can't be helped. I wonder if it's any good trying to finish my book? But don't let's worry about it now - let's have some real News! Tell me all about the Shire!"

Since Nick had enjoyed trying to fit in with the hobbits before he'd been forced to leave, he was able to tell him about a few of the thing that had happened, but he quickly began to struggle with how to sound knowledgeable about hobbits he'd never even heard of. Luckily, Shane and Adi rescued him, and, while they weren't as knowledgeable as their characters would have been, they were able to distract and entertain Bilbo that night.

Early the next morning, Nick was invited to a special council by the elf called Elrond. During the said meeting, Nick couldn't help grinning at being a part of such a famous scene and couldn't help wondering where the other Hobbits were.

_That brat, Lanie will be chartreuse with envy! I wish I had a camera._

* * *

Lanie never found the others and spent the night outside the room she had been sharing with Shane and Adi. She was awakened the next morning when morning dew from the leaves dripped on her forehead.

"What the f—!" she cried, but stopped immediately when she saw two elves looking at her with keen interest. "—alling leaves!" she hummed. The two elves looked at each other and then began to approach her. Lanie gulped and felt panic rising to her throat. "What now?"

"You _are_ very peculiar," said one elf, stopping a few feet from her.

"I am?" Lanie piped.

The elves laughed. "You and the other Hobbits are very different from old Bilbo, and we have had the pleasure of discussing your peculiarities all night!"

"It provided us with endless entertainment," said the other. "Why, a whole village of Halflings like yourselves would probably drive all of us mad with laughter!"

Lanie laughed sarcastically and even that the elves took lightly. They laughed louder and then left her.

"Jerks!" Lanie whispered.

"We heard that!" one of the elves cried from a distance and then more laughter ensued.

Lanie smirked, and then decided to freshen up and start hunting her missing companions again. After a while, she found herself in front of a large hall. She went in and overheard voices from behind two huge wooden doors. They were ajar, so she peeped through the gap and saw, to her delight, the Council of Elrond!

A tall, dark-haired elf spoke. "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands upon the brink of destruction, none can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo."

Lanie saw Nick walk up to the pedestal and placed the One Ring on top then returned to his seat and sighed. Silence enveloped the group and Lanie decided to find a way to get closer to them. She turned around and saw several archways in the hall; one to her extreme right seemed to go round a bend and she decided to see where that path went, hoping it would lead her to the same place where the Council was.

Luck, apparently, was on her side. She did find the council and, after crawling under several bushes of an unknown plant with itchy leaves, she finally got close enough to see and hear everyone clearly while remaining unseen.

"Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?"

He was a tall, muscular man, with brown hair and a square, chiseled jaw.

"Boromir," Lanie whispered.

"And heir to the throne of Gondor."

Lanie's eyes darted to the one that spoke those words for she knew the line well. It would have been said by one of the cutest guys she'd ever seen grace the silver screen. Lanie struggled to muffle a cry as she crawled on the ground and peeped between Gandalf's legs and Nick's dangling feet. And then she saw him—

"That's Legolas?" she said to herself. It was a climactic let-down. He wasn't as cute as Orlando Bloom was. As she studied his long, pale face, and the pointy ears that stood out of his hair of dirty blond, what she saw was an elf! Not a cute, princely person that made her swoon every time the camera focused on him, but a creature that, although looked human, was clearly not. He was not pleasing to look at as the films made him to be—_maybe because this is a real elf_, she said to herself, _and Orlando Bloom… well, he's Orlando Bloom_.

"You have only one choice. The ring must be destroyed."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Something that looked like a rock with legs walked up to the pedestal and struck it with an axe.

"Gimli…"

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. The ring must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this."

"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The great eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly."

"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The ring must be destroyed!"

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?"

Lanie thought, _this looked so crazy in the movies, but here, it's downright annoying. Why can't they see the logic of it all? Elrond was speaking in plain Westron, for crying out loud! _

Suddenly, a small voice peeped above the hubbub of angry voices. It was Nick, doing _his_ part in the story. Lanie was flabbergasted.

"I will take it!"

"Well, sonnamagun…"

"I will take the Ring to Mordor," Nick added. "But I don't know how to get there."

Lanie sniggered. "Though I do not know the way, stupid!'

"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo," Gandalf said, "for so long as it is yours to bear."

"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword," Aragorn said, kneeling in front him.

"And you have my bow," added the elf.

"And my axe!" said the dwarf.

Lanie readied herself.

"You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done," said Boromir.

That was her queue, and she immediately jumped in as if someone cried ACTION! "AH! Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"

"Apparently not," Lord Elrond said. "Even when he is summoned to a secret council, and you are not."

"Wait!" cried a voice and Lanie was torn between anger and relief at seeing Shane and Adi again that her expression changed with every second.

"We're coming too!" Shane said, grinning.

"Nine companions," Elrond said. "So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"

Lanie felt a shiver run down her spine. The scene went perfectly like in the movie! Nothing was going to spoil this moment for her—absolutely _nothing!_

"Ha! You couldn't help it, either, huh?" Nick said, ribbing her and the other two Hobbits.

_Except that_. Lanie had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was the beginning of a very perilous journey and Lanie wasn't sure she and Nick would survive without the others.


End file.
